'Wouldn't have taken action had Ukraine not stopped water supply to Crimea': Putin on war

Amid escalating war between Moscow and Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not wish to destroy Ukraine as a state but to resume water supply to Crimea. According to Putin, if Ukraine had not disrupted the water supply to the region which was annexed in 2014 by Moscow, there would have been no retaliatory actions. 

"Our goal is not to destroy all of Ukraine. As for them, at some point, they just went and cut the water supply to Crimea, where 2.4 million people live. Our troops had to enter the area and reopen the water supply to Crimea. Had they refrained from taking that action, there would have been no retaliatory actions," said the Russian head while speaking to a press conference in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.

Further, during the conference, Putin asserted that he would not carry out massive strikes against facilities in the war-embattled nation, "at least for now". As per the Russian President, Moscow has some other plans and goals and reiterated, "there is no need for massive strikes, at least for now". "Currently, other tasks are on the agenda, because, in my opinion, out of the 29 facilities, seven were not hit the way the Defense Ministry had planned. But these facilities are being finished off gradually, there is no need for massive strikes, at least for now. Then we'll see," Putin said.

"No regret"

When asked whether he has any "regret" about launching a war against Kyiv, Putin replied negatively and said he has no guilt over the "unpleasant" conflict and dubbed it "a special military operation", instead of calling it a full-fledged war. "What is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly. But we would have had all this a little later, only under worse conditions for us, that’s all. So my actions are correct and timely," said the Russian President. Notably, his remarks came in the same week when Russian forces escalated their offensive against Kyiv. Earlier on Thursday, Putin again warned of "catastrophic repercussions" if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) tries to engage with his army. 

Russian attacks on Ukraine intensifies in recent week

It is crucial to note that this was the second time when President Putin warned of such disastrous action. Earlier this month, Putin asserted he would use nuclear weapons to defend his territory after annexing four regions of Ukraine last month. Though his words received global condemnation, including at the United Nations, Putin's top officials confirmed his staunch stand on the ongoing war. Moreover, the Group of Seven (G7) nations warned that the use of nuclear weapons on Ukraine will have severe consequences, according to a statement released by the White House. Besides, US President Joe Biden said, "I don't think there is any such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon."