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Putin: Russia needed to attack Ukraine energy sites in response to Kyiv's strikes

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia had actually been obliged to release strikes that have actually caused heavy damage on Ukrainian energy websites in response to Kyiv's attacks on Russian targets.

The Kremlin leader, estimated by Russian news companies, was talking to his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, after overnight attacks destroyed a large electrical energy plant near Kyiv and struck power facilities in several regions of Ukraine.

The president stated the strikes belonged to the procedure of demilitarisation of Ukraine-- one of the objectives he pointed out when he sent out Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Unfortunately, we observed a series of strikes on our energy sites just recently and were required to react, Putin was priced quote as stating.

The strikes on energy are linked in part with resolving one of the tasks we set for ourselves, and that is demilitarisation. Our company believe above all that in this method we will impact Ukraine's. military industrial complex and in a really direct method.

Russia, he stated, had avoided performing such. attacks in winter season out of humanitarian factors to consider.

What I indicate is that we didn't wish to leave social. organizations without power, medical facilities and so forth, he said. However he stated the Ukrainian strikes-- generally on oil refineries in. many different Russian regions in recent weeks-- triggered. Moscow to react.

In his comments to Lukashenko, Putin again dismissed any. tip by Ukraine's Western allies that Russia had plans to. attack any European nations beyond Ukraine.

That is nonsense. It is required for the judgment circles,. as we used to say, to describe and justify their expense on. the war in Ukraine, he said.

Putin once again rejected any notion of holding peace talks. without Russia's participation-- Switzerland has said it will. host a world top on Ukraine in June but Russia said it. would not take part.

Both Putin and Lukashenko concurred that the best starting. point for any settlement in Ukraine was the series of talks held. in Turkey in 2022 in the early weeks of the war, which broke up. with no agreement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says talks on peace. must be based on his strategy which requires withdrawal of Russian. troops, remediation of Ukraine's 1991 post-Soviet borders and a. system to bring Russian to represent its actions.