Putin says ‘the whole of Ukraine is ours’ in theory, may take city of Sumy
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Putin threatens to seize Ukrainian city of Sumy in ongoing offensive
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened for the first time to seize Ukraine’s north-eastern city of Sumy. Putin said: “We do not have the goal of capturing Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out” Russian troops have been capturing more and more towns in the Sumy region for months.
“We do not have the goal of capturing Sumy, but in principle I do not rule it out,” he said on Friday at the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, in response to a journalist’s question.
Russian troops have been capturing more and more towns in the Sumy region for months, and Putin said the armed forces were establishing a buffer zone which so far extends 10-12 kilometres into Ukraine from the north-east.
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The front line is only about 18 kilometres from the city of Sumy’s boundaries.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has annexed the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. Moscow recently threatened that other regions could follow if Kiev did not agree to Russia’s maximum demands for an end to the war.
Speaking on Friday, Putin said he sees Russians and Ukrainians as one people. “In that sense, the whole of Ukraine is ours,” he said to loud applause.
When asked by the moderator how much of Ukraine he wanted to conquer, he replied: “Wherever a Russian soldier’s foot rests, that belongs to us.”
Putin says ‘the whole of Ukraine is ours’ – in theory
Putin says ‘the whole of Ukraine is ours’ – in theory. Putin said Russia is carving out a buffer zone in the Sumy region in order to protect its territory. Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, more than 99 per cent of the Luhansk region, and over 70 per cent. of the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia’s claims to four Ukrainian regions and Crimea are illegal, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly rejected the notion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Russia has “various plans and intentions, completely mad as always. We are holding them back and eliminating these killers, defending ourSumy region.” Russia wants to continue the war against Ukraine, the U.S. says.
| June 21, 2025
President Vladimir Putin says the whole of Ukraine belongs to Russia in theory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says in his view, the whole of Ukraine is “ours” and cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border.
Ukraine’s foreign minister denounced Friday’s statements as evidence of Russian “disdain” for US peace efforts and said Moscow was bent on seizing more territory and killing more Ukrainians.
Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, more than 99 per cent of the Luhansk region, over 70 per cent of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and fragments of the Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Putin’s cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for US peace efforts. While the United States and the rest of the world have called for an immediate end to the killing, Russia’s top war criminal discusses plans to seize more Ukrainian territory and kill more Ukrainians.… — Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) June 20, 2025
Asked about fresh Russian advances, Putin told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that he considered Russians and Ukrainians to be one people and “in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours”.
Kyiv and its Western allies say Moscow’s claims to four Ukrainian regions and Crimea are illegal, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly rejected the notion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.
He has also said that Putin’s terms for peace are akin to capitulation.
Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, said on Friday he was not questioning Ukraine’s independence or its people’s striving for sovereignty, but he underscored that when Ukraine declared independence as the Soviet Union fell in 1991 it had also declared its neutrality.
Putin said Russia is carving out a buffer zone in the Sumy region in order to protect its territory. (AP PHOTO)
Putin said Moscow wanted Ukraine to accept the reality on the ground if there was to be a chance of peace – Russia’s shorthand for the reality of Russia’s control over a chunk of Ukrainian territory bigger than the US state of Virginia.
“We have a saying, or a parable,” Putin said.
“Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing in English on the X social media platform, said: “Putin’s cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for US peace efforts.”
“While the United States and the rest of the world have called for an immediate end to the killing, Russia’s top war criminal discusses plans to seize more Ukrainian territory and kill more Ukrainians.”
Wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, “he brings along only death, destruction, and devastation,” Sybiha said.
Russia is continuing its barrage on Ukraine, including a massive air attack in Odesa. (AP PHOTO)
Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said Russia had shown “openly and utterly cynically that they ‘don’t feel like’ agreeing to a ceasefire. Russia wants to continue the war.”
Zelenskiy said commanders had discussed action in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region and that Russia had “various plans and intentions, completely mad as always. We are holding them back and eliminating these killers, defending our Sumy region.”
Putin said Russian forces were carving out a buffer zone in the Sumy region in order to protect Russian territory.
“Next is the city of Sumy, the regional centre. We don’t have the task of taking it, but in principle I don’t rule it out,” he said.
Ukraine slams Putin’s ‘disdain’ for peace process after he says ‘whole of Ukraine’ belongs to Russia
Ukraine slams Putin’s ‘disdain’ for peace process after he says ‘whole of Ukraine’ belongs to Russia. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said Putin had shown “disdain” for the peace process. The only way to force Russia into peace is to deprive it of its sense of impunity, he said. Putin on Friday told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that Russians and Ukrainians were one people.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Friday said that Vladimir Putin had shown “disdain” for the peace process between the two countries after the Russian president earlier said that the “whole of Ukraine” belonged to Russia.
Ukraine said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown “disdain” for the peace process by suggesting Moscow might seize more Ukrainian territory, including the northeastern city of Sumy.
“Putin’s cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for US peace efforts … The only way to force Russia into peace is to deprive it of its sense of impunity,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a post on X.
Putin on Friday told the St Petersburg International Economic Forum that Russians and Ukrainians were one people, “and in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours”.
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He cautioned that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as part of a bid to carve out a buffer zone along the border.
Putin, who ordered troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, also said he was not seeking the capitulation of Ukraine or denying Ukraine’s sovereignty, but that Ukraine had to be neutral.
He has also said that Putin’s terms for peace are akin to capitulation.
“We have a saying, or a parable,” Putin said. “Where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.”
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
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Putin says ‘all of Ukraine is ours’ as he eyes Sumy city – DW – 06
Vladimir Putin: “We have a saying… where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours” He was responding to a question about Russia’s objectives for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin said he did not “rule out” the capture of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy. He added that Russian troops had already penetrated up to 12 kilometers into Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region to create what he called a protective “buffer zone” Ukraine said Putin’s comments showed his “disdain” for the peace process and his “complete disdain” for U.S. efforts to reach a deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people” and that, in that sense, “all of Ukraine is ours.”
The assertion underscores Moscow’s continued underlying rejection of Ukrainian sovereignty and raises renewed alarm over Russia’s territorial ambitions.
What did Putin say about Ukraine’s sovereignty?
Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, Putin issued a series of provocative remarks, notably stating: “We have a saying… where the foot of a Russian soldier steps, that is ours.”
He was responding to a question about Russia’s objectives for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
The Russian leader emphasized that while Russia “never doubted” Ukraine’s sovereignty after its 1991 independence, it had declared itself a neutral state — a stance he accused Ukraine of having abandoned.
Reiterating a longstanding narrative, he said Russians and Ukrainians were essentially the same nation — a position Kyiv and its Western allies categorically reject.
“I have said many times that I consider the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one people. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours,” Putin said.
Ukraine said Putin’s comments showed his “disdain” for the peace process.
“Putin’s cynical statements demonstrate complete disdain for US peace efforts,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a post on X. “The only way to force Russia into peace is to deprive it of its sense of impunity.”
What did Putin say about Sumy?
Among the key developments, Putin said he did not “rule out” the capture of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, which lies roughly 30 kilometers (just over 18 miles) from the Russian border.
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“We have no objective to take Sumy but, in principle, I do not rule it out,” he said, accusing Ukrainian forces of persistently shelling Russian border areas. He added that Russian troops had already penetrated up to 12 kilometers into Ukrainian territory in the Sumy region to create what he called a protective “buffer zone.”
Sumy, though not among the five Ukrainian regions Moscow claims to have annexed — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea — has been a frequent target of Russian attacks. It also served as a launching point for a Ukrainian counteroffensive into Russia’s western Kursk region last August, during which Kyiv’s forces briefly captured dozens of settlements before being pushed back by Russian troops — bolstered by thousands of North Korean soldiers, according to reports.
Putin’s remarks come amid growing skepticism over the viability of peace negotiations, with Moscow continuing to demand further Ukrainian territorial concessions as a precondition for any ceasefire.
Edited by Sean Sinico