During a Thursday speech addressing Russian parliament officials, President Vladimir Putin warned that the military has barely started its operations in Ukraine – suggesting he sees a long haul fight possibly for the whole of Ukraine ahead – in a direct challenge to the West as it continues to send arms to Kiev.
It's being widely viewed as one of the fiercest speeches and challenges issued to Western backers of Ukraine since he authorized the Feb.24 invasion. He said that “the West wants to fight us until the last Ukrainian” – which he called a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, before adding, “It looks like it's heading in that direction,” and then put the world on notice that Russia “by and large hasn't started anything seriously yet.”
“Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. Well, what can you say here? Let them try,” Putin said, in a direct challenge to the US and NATO, though without naming them specifically.