All right, Alexander, let's talk about Putin's statements at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

We're a few days removed now from those statements that he made during his speech,

as well as a panel that he was taking part in.

And we can now start to analyze what the Russian president said.

And he did say some pretty amazing things.

So on Ukraine, on what he said about Ukraine, one people with the Russians,

Ukraine is being part of Russia. There was a lot more context to it, but, you know, he was saying these things. What are your thoughts on the statements

that Putin made during the St. Petersburg-Berg International Economic Forum.

In my opinion, there are significant departure from the Russian position up to now.

Now, you're absolutely correct in saying that if you read the totality of his comments,

they are a lot more moderate than some of the headlines might imply.

I mean, he said that Russia had never disputed Ukraine's right to independence,

that the Russians had worked incredibly hard to find peaceful solutions,

that peaceful solutions through diplomacy

are still available.

But when he was talking about Ukrainian independence and Russia's recognizing of Ukrainian

independence, I noticed that he was using the past tense.

So it's starting to look as if Putin is gradually coming around to the view

that there is not going to be a negotiated outcome of this conflict with Ukraine, that Zelensky will never come to terms,

that the Europeans will never agree to Ukraine coming to terms, and that the United States

will never bring the kind of pressure on Ukraine that would cause Zelensky to come to terms. So that the war

is going to continue. And Putin is starting to think beyond the war, and he's starting to

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