Peskov said Russia is at war with Ukraine. EU leaders reacted

Russian president Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has admitted that the war in Ukraine is no longer a “special military operation.” He also called the West a party to the conflict. Peskov told journalists at aif.ru.

According to him, the Russian Federation will do everything to prevent Ukraine from liberating the occupied Crimea and parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. The Kremlin is ready to wage war for the seized and annexed Ukrainian territories, even if it has to liquidate Ukraine.

The Kremlin finally called the war in Ukraine a war

“We are in a state of war. Yes, it began as a special military operation, but as soon as this company formed and the collective West intervened on Ukraine’s side, it turned into a war for us. I am convinced of this. Everyone should understand this for their internal mobilization,” Peskov said.

Later, Russian propagandists from RIA Novosti asked the Russian president’s spokesman to clarify his words. The agency reminded us that many in Russia faced conviction for referring to the war in Ukraine as a war.

“This is an inappropriate comparison because the context is different. Different contexts use the word “war” in distinct ways. You just compare what context I have and what context there is in the cases you cite,” Peskov responded.

According to him, the Russian Federation is de facto at war, and de jure, it is still a “special military operation.”

“This is a special military operation; nothing has changed. I’m saying that, in fact, after the collective West stepped in, it turned into a war for us. This has nothing to do with any legal changes. It is a special military operation de jure. But de facto, it has actually turned into a war for us after the collective West has been increasingly directly increasing the level of its involvement in the conflict,” Peskov tried to justify himself.

The EU responded to Peskov’s statement regarding the war

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reacted to Peskov’s statement. In their opinion, these words indicate the need to strengthen support for Ukraine and the EU’s defense capabilities.

“This is a very cynical statement, because for two years they (the Russians, ed.) have been repeating over and over again that this is not a war against Ukraine but a special operation. They even decided to prosecute those people in Russia who said it was a war,” Radio Liberty quoted Michel as saying.

“This comment today only confirms that the Kremlin has been betraying the Russian population for the past two years by hiding the facts and denying that there is a war,” Ursula von der Leyen said.

On December 22, 2023, during a meeting with propagandists, Putin said that Russia seeks a speedy end to the war in Ukraine, using this definition for the first time in relation to a “special military operation.” Previously, Putin referred to the war he launched against Ukraine in February 2022 as a “special military operation.

In February 2024, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin called the war against Ukraine a “matter of life and death” for Russia.