Russia will press on with front-line campaign regardless of Ukraine proposals: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia will press ahead with its battlefield aim of fully capturing four Ukrainian regions, rejecting what he said was a new proposal by Ukraine to rein in hostilities in the more than four-year-old war. Putin, speaking to a Russian state television interviewer, also said Russia needed to boost its air defense capacity to counter intensified Ukrainian drone attacks aimed mainly at its oil industry. He said Russia was coping well in tackling fuel supply problems linked to the Ukrainian strikes. He acknowledged earlier on Sunday at a meeting in the Kremlin with government ministers and other officials that the strikes had triggered fuel shortages in various Russian regions but that Russia was dealing with them. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.