During a press conference as part of his four-day visit to China, the president said: “The overwhelming majority, I want to emphasize, the overwhelming majority, support Russia reaching all its goals set at the start of the special military operation.”

He explained that the rest are of secondary importance, adding that “it is better to achieve the objectives of the special military operation by peaceful means, and we have offered this to the other side more than once,” affirming that he sees “a light at the end of the tunnel” regarding the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

At the same time, the Russian president stressed that Moscow cannot slacken or retreat in the special military operation, saying that if it becomes impossible to resolve the Ukrainian crisis peacefully, Russia will be forced to resolve it by force.

Putin explained: “We see the current U.S. administration’s approach led by President (Donald) Trump, their calls and even sincere desire to find a solution (to the Ukrainian crisis). It seems to me there is a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel. Let’s see how the situation develops; otherwise, we will have to solve all tasks by force.”