Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that Ukraine will “sooner or later” lose its western territories, telling Russian military personnel that parts of the country historically belonged to neighboring states and that “everyone has fallen out with each other” in Ukraine.
Speaking during a meeting with the military, Putin also claimed that left-bank Ukraine has “always been considered part of Russia.”
“I’m certain that sooner or later Ukraine will lose these western lands. And what belonged to Poland, Hungary, Romania will, sooner or later – maybe not tomorrow, not the day after, in a year, two, 10, 15 – but everything will historically fall back into place,” Putin said.
The remarks refer to western regions of present-day Ukraine that were part of Poland, Romania and Hungary before the Second World War, but which are internationally recognised today as sovereign Ukrainian territory.
Putin has repeatedly questioned Ukraine’s borders and statehood since launching Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Kyiv and its Western allies reject such claims, reaffirming their support for Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and territorial integrity.
Header image: © Alexei Danichev/POOL/TASS
