On the way: Putin announced the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces along the entire line of contact

The first serial Oreshnik complex has already been produced and delivered to the Russian Armed Forces, and the issue of sending the missile to Belarus will be closed by the end of the year. Vladimir Putin told reporters on August 1, on which day he met informally with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam. The Russian president positively assessed the results of the negotiation process with Ukraine in Turkey, which, in particular, makes it possible to resolve humanitarian issues. Alexander Lukashenko called Kiev's position a mistake, which is in no hurry to end the fighting, given what is happening on the ground. Now the Russian Armed Forces are advancing along the entire line of contact. Vladimir Putin also revealed the details of Chasov Yar's release and commented on attempts by the Ukrainian side to deny it. How the Russian leader sees a settlement with Ukraine is in the Izvestia article.

The third round of negotiations in Istanbul

The President of Belarus arrived in Russia on a working visit on August 1. First, he flew to St. Petersburg for just an hour, then boarded a helicopter and headed for Valaam. Vladimir Putin was already waiting for Alexander Lukashenko here. It is noteworthy that this is not the first time the heads of state have met here.: they were here in July 2019, and then in 2023 and 2024. Now the leaders have once again attended a service at the church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in Smolensky Skete.

After a brief conversation, the presidents went to the reporters.: they talked with media representatives for more than half an hour. The focus is on the situation in Ukraine and the results of the third round of negotiations that took place on July 23 in Istanbul. At that time, the parties discussed the positions set out in the draft memoranda and agreed to exchange not only military personnel, but also civilians. In addition, Russia has offered Ukraine to create three online working groups to address political, military and humanitarian issues.

Vladimir Putin said that he generally appreciates the results of the meeting.

— Well, how can you not positively assess the fact that hundreds of people have returned to their homeland? This is positive <...> As you know, we have transferred thousands of bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers to [Kiev] for humanitarian reasons. In response, we received several dozen [bodies] of our guys who laid down their lives for their Homeland. And isn't that a positive thing? Of course, this is positive," the head of state said.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin commented on the words of Vladimir Zelensky that it allegedly makes no sense to negotiate now and we must wait for the regime change in Russia. "Well, in principle, we can wait. If the Ukrainian leadership believes that now is not the time, but it is necessary to wait, please, we are ready to wait," the Russian leader said.

Moscow's main goal remains to root out the causes of the crisis in Ukraine and ensure Russia's security. Among other things, by achieving a long—term peace that will have no time constraints. It is important to ensure conditions for the use of the Russian language and the activities of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the Russian president said. Vladimir Putin stressed that the conditions he set at the Foreign Ministry back in June 2024 remain in force. Among them is the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the four territories that became part of the Russian Federation, and Kiev's guarantee to abandon its intentions to join NATO.

It is possible to achieve a peaceful solution to the issue through detailed conversations and not in public, but in the silence of the negotiation process, Vladimir Putin said. It was proposed to create working groups on settlement for this very purpose, he recalled. By the way, the reaction of the Ukrainian side to this proposal was positive. "We agreed that we can conduct such negotiations without a camera, without any political crackle in a calm mode and look for compromises. They haven't started working yet, and this work hasn't started yet," the Russian president added.

U.S. involvement in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis

The Belarusian leader stated that he fully supports Vladimir Putin's position on negotiations with Ukraine. And the Russian Federation, in turn, is grateful to Belarus for its assistance in resolving the conflict, the Russian leader said.

— Ukraine should be begging today: Vladimir Vladimirovich, let's sit down at the negotiating table, let's come to an agreement. Otherwise, in a month or a month and a half or two, there won't even be any defensive structures left. The Russians will slowly bite it all off, seize it and move on," the President of Belarus emphasized.

"They will return it, it's ours," Vladimir Putin corrected his colleague.

Alexander Lukashenko called such behavior of the authorities in Kiev a mistake, since they demand the impossible in public, and issues should be resolved through negotiations. At the same time, US President Donald Trump, if he wants peace, should "carefully join" the settlement process, and not put forward ultimatums, the President of Belarus said. He noted that he openly told the US representatives who had been in Minsk the day before to tell Trump to "act carefully" and then "we can come to an agreement."

— 50, 60, 10 days. That's not how politics is done. If he wants peace, he must connect carefully, thoroughly. This is a military clash, and it will not be possible to point it out, especially to a nuclear power. Listen, this is just ridiculous," Alexander Lukashenko said.

According to Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, Trump has a set of negotiating tactics that look natural to him. Despite the fact that sometimes they raise questions, in particular, a change in the positions and timing of the ultimatum, one should not expect the head of the White House to refuse this.

— At the same time, many of his positions should be considered precisely as a step in the negotiation process, that is, he overstates the stakes and tries to intimidate his partner. This applies not only to Russia, but also to other countries, including US allies. This is an example of the success of Trump's aggressive negotiating style. But with Russia, apparently, such a negotiating style will be unproductive, so it will have to be adjusted at least tactically," Kortunov explained.

Talking to the Russian Federation in the language of ultimatums is futile, since the United States currently does not take a position from which it could talk to Moscow in the language of ultimatums, said Konstantin Sukhoverkhov, INF program manager.

— We need an effective dialogue between Moscow and Washington. Judging by the meetings that have taken place between Russia and the United States in recent months, we see that the Trump administration is able to act carefully. But whether Trump himself is capable is a question. And here we must take into account that he sometimes contradicts himself. But it is important to look at the work of the entire administration, and it has shown that it is able to act pragmatically to achieve results," the expert stressed.

The situation on the line of contact

Today, the Russian military is conducting offensive operations along the entire line of contact: in the border zone, in the DPR, and in the LPR, as well as in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

— Yesterday, as usual, I discussed these issues several times with both the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff. And I knew that we would have an approach to the press. And I asked them myself. I say, "How to answer such a question is the situation on ITS own." The answer was: "Please answer honestly," the Russian president shared.

— We recently heard that a new settlement, Chasov Yar, has been taken. A fairly large settlement. We have already heard that "this is not true." I can say that this is completely true. Moreover, the Ministry of Defense announced [this], in my opinion, yesterday, in fact, Chas Yar was taken a few days ago," Putin clarified.

Thus, the Ukrainian leadership is clearly not very informed about what is happening at the front, if it denies the liberation of this settlement by Russian troops. "This is their problem," the Russian head of state said.

Zelensky was most likely well aware of Chasov Yar's release, says Alexei Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the State Duma's defense committee. However, he does not want to admit this publicly, as it was with Mariupol, Artemivsk, Avdiivka.

— He also knows that the front is cracking in almost all directions. And the promises of the Russian delegation in Istanbul that next time it will be necessary to discuss the fate of not four, but six regions, are becoming more visible every day. The country is gradually coming under Russian control, and the sane leadership would like to conclude peace as soon as possible, at least on the terms that exist now," he told Izvestia.

The proof of the success of the Russian Armed Forces at the front may also be the fact that unfriendly countries that previously planned to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine are now trying to at least stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces, the Russian president noted. "Either with promises of a good life, or with some kind of threats, or with the rearmament and resupply of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Putin added.

Prospects for the supply of the Oreshnik serial complex

Russia has produced the first serial Oreshnik complex, and it has entered the army, the president said. The issue of missile delivery to Belarus will be closed by the end of the year, and positions for its deployment are currently being prepared, the head of state added.

— Our specialists, both Belarusian and Russian military specialists, have chosen a place for future positions. And now work is underway to prepare these positions. So, most likely, we will close this issue by the end of the year," Putin said.

Earlier, Moscow and Minsk agreed to deploy a missile system in the republic in the second half of 2025. Alexander Lukashenko made such a request to Vladimir Putin on December 6 at a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State in Minsk. At the same time, Minsk will determine the goals independently, Lukashenko promised, but Moscow will help with the operation of the rocket.

The information that the first serial Oreshnik complex has been released may indicate several important events that went unnoticed, Dmitry Kornev, editor of the MilitaryRussia website, told Izvestia.

— Apparently, the formation of the first military units or the first military unit armed with the Oreshnik missile system is underway, — the expert is sure. — That is, we have already formed a full-fledged complex, not an experimental, but a military series. The complex may include a self-propelled launcher, a transport and charging vehicle and a mobile command post. Most likely, this is exactly the composition that the Oreshnik complex needs in order for it to go on combat duty. Of course, we do not forget about the military personnel who will serve the complex — they have also been trained.

The first formed military unit is likely to become a separate missile division.

— In the future, a team will be assembled from them, — Dmitry Kornev continued. — It can be assumed that in the end, far more than one brigade will be armed with Hazelnuts. They will be located in Russia and Belarus. If the deployment points have already been identified, it means that the infrastructure for missile deployment is already being prepared there. Our partners overseas will use satellite imagery to monitor the appearance of Oreshnik missile systems on combat duty.

Recall that for the first time, the Russian medium-range hypersonic missile Oreshnik was used on November 21, 2024 to strike a military-industrial facility in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Then, in an address to the nation, Vladimir Putin explained that this was done "in response to the use of American and British long-range weapons."

According to official data, the maximum range of the Oreshnik is 5,500 km, the missile can reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (about 12.4 thousand km / h, or 3 km / s) and can carry a warhead weighing up to 1.5 tons. Putin separately stressed that the missile is capable of hitting well—protected and deep targets, and the massive use of "Hazelnuts" is comparable to a nuclear weapon strike.

— Both Russia and Belarus have made a very serious U-turn today. I think time will pass, and the world will appreciate what we have done. It was simply impossible to imagine in the early 2020s. But, nevertheless, they did. We have turned it around, we live and we will live. In our world, no one will be able to bring us to our knees, we are determined to defend our interests," Alexander Lukashenko stressed.

The presidents commented on the scandal with NABU and SAP

The journalists also asked the heads of state about the recent rallies in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin said: the authorities in Kiev have disgraced themselves because of the scandal with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP). They were created in 2015 at the request of Ukraine's Western partners, ostensibly to fight corruption. However, in fact, they have become conduits of foreign influence in the country. On July 23, a law came into force limiting their powers, which caused a wave of criticism in the West and within the country.

— They tried to change something there, to somehow return at least some of the sovereignty. As I did not like it from above, they whistled, clicked and immediately returned everything back. It would be better if we didn't do anything, if we just sat in one place, and everything would be smooth and covered. They just disgraced themselves, and that's it," Putin told reporters.

Alexander Lukashenko agrees that the situation with the law on anti-corruption agencies has shown Ukraine's lack of sovereignty.

— And I'm watching this and I'm thinking, well, what did Zelensky want? He took billions, billions, hundreds of billions of money. The West says, well, we want to see where this money will be spent. And they once proposed creating an anti-corruption bureau and an anti—corruption prosecutor's office," the Belarusian leader said.

Recall that the adoption of this law caused mass protests in Ukraine, and the EU suspended financial assistance to Ukraine. As a result of pressure from Western partners, Zelensky introduced a new bill to Parliament on July 24 to restore the powers of NABU and SAP. But now they are being checked by the SBU.

Independence is absent not only in Ukraine, but also in the EU. Putin noted that political scientists had recently said that the European Union was an economic giant, but a political dwarf.

— Sovereignty plays a key role, including for economic development. It was clear that the European Union did not have much sovereignty. Today it became obvious that it does not exist at all. And this is followed by economic losses in the critical situation that has occurred," the Russian head of state said.

Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the fact that Russia and the European Union would be a very powerful force if they joined forces, but Brussels does not understand this. The United States is especially not interested in such a rapprochement, for which such an alliance would become a more formidable rival than China.