Russia strikes Ukraine, issues warning: ‘There will be peace on our own terms’

Russia has said there is no time limit to a conflict which Ukraine and the West have called an unprovoked war of aggression designed to grab territory and erase Ukrainian identity.

A senior Russian security official said on Tuesday that peace in Ukraine when it came would be on Moscow’s terms as Russian forces struck targets across the country with missiles even as their ground offensive stuttered.

More than two weeks have passed since Russia’s last major territorial gain — capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk — and Ukraine’s General Army Staff said on Tuesday that Moscow’s forces were busy shoring up their positions in recently seized territory and mounting limited but unsuccessful ground assaults, albeit in numerous different locations.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president who is now deputy head of its Security Council, struck a defiant tone though, signaling that Moscow was ready to do whatever it took in order to prevail.

“Russia will achieve all its goals. There will be peace — on our terms,” Medvedev said.

He has become increasingly hawkish in his criticism of the West since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it calls a “special military operation” to ensure its own security.

The Kremlin has said there is no time limit to a conflict which Ukraine and the West have called an unprovoked war of aggression designed to grab territory and erase Ukrainian identity.

Britain’s ministry of defense, which supports Kyiv, said on Thursday it believed Russian forces were unable to advance swiftly due to personnel shortages.

Russia is facing a resources dilemma, it said, as it must decide how much military hardware and personnel to commit to achieving its stated objective of seizing full control of Ukraine’s Donetsk region and how much to deploy to southern Ukraine to contend with a Ukrainian counter-attack.