11:21, 2 September 2024Source: Meduza

Today we are thinking about schoolchildren from the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, who, due to known circumstances, are forced to study online. Our armed forces will do everything to restore normal life for these children. We cannot allow hostile structures to be created right next door that hatch aggressive plans and try to destabilize Russia.

Our people are going through difficult trials, especially in the Kursk region. The enemy was counting on stopping our offensive actions on the main sections of the front in Donbass, but he did not achieve this. Moreover, now we are not talking about moving there 200-300 meters at a time. Russian troops are taking control of territories by square kilometers. We have not had such a pace of advance in Donbass for a long time.

We have always advocated a peaceful settlement, but first we need to deal with the Ukrainian bandits who have entered the territory of the Russian Federation. I am sure that this provocation in the Kursk region will fail. After that, we will need to move on to peace talks. We have never rejected them. But the current Ukrainian authorities are not interested in ending the fighting. After the lifting of martial law, they have little chance of being re-elected. That is why they carried out this provocation in the Kursk region, and before that they tried to carry out the same provocation in the Belgorod region.

This is a summary of Vladimir Putin’s statements at an open lesson, “Conversation about the Important,” at Secondary School No. 20 in Kyzyl, Tuva. The statements have been edited to preserve the meaning and are cited from the websites of the Kremlin and Russian news agencies.

(C)MEDUZA 2024