Besides the issue of not being able to verify this was actually said, "if I wanted to I could take Kiev in two weeks" is a lot different from "this entire operation will be over in three hours." "If I wanted to" in fact implies taking Kiev was not a goal, which aligns with it not being officially stated as a goal.

[–] InvertedParallax@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

3 hour tour is an old English idiom, I can understand if it's unfamiliar to you.

[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You put it in quotes and called it a special military op instead of a tour, so it was a little bit obfuscated

Edit: not that you meant to, of course, but it is what it is

As an aside, I think Putin was probably right, but under the condition that he carpet bombs multiple major cities from the first available moment. The war is brutal, but Russia has not been carpet-bombing for a litany of reasons (and it is good that they aren't)

[–] 420blazeit69@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

Lmao so now you're claiming Putin was using some old English idiom in a private conversation with a Portuguese politician? Then said politician quoted Putin as saying a different phrase?

Truly wonderful, the mind of a liberal is.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

HA. Sometimes I think people forget how time works. That we did not watch russia make these statements in real time and somehow reddit would come into it as if its mere existence is an augment.

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So link the statement

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Here you go to start:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220308032650/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67903

Parts to note:

"I would like to emphasise once again that our men and officers are fighting in Ukraine for Russia, for a peaceful life for the citizens of Donbass, and for the denazification and demilitarisation of Ukraine, so that no anti-Russia, which the West has been creating for years right on our border, can threaten us, including with nuclear weapons, as has recently become the case."

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And the words "Take Kiev" are to be found...where?

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

How do you demilitarize a nation? After invading part of it?

Maybe take the capital and force change?