Russian Lawmaker Vows Putin's War Will Go 'Further' Than Ukraine

Russian lawmaker Andrey Gurulyov recently said on state television that Russian President Vladimir Putin's war will go "further" than Ukraine.

It's been nearly two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As the Eastern European country continues to fight against Russian occupation, support from the United States, who has given the second-largest amount of aid to Ukraine after the European Union (EU), is dwindling.

Gurulyov, a member of Russia's state Duma and former military commander, told Russian TV host and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on an episode of his show, Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, that Russia will not only win its war against Ukraine, but will continue beyond it.

Gurulyov's comments were translated by the Russian Media Monitor and posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday by Julia Davis, who founded the watchdog group.

"What was the president talking about today? That we have a future," Gurulyov said, who was referring to Putin's annual press conference that was held in Moscow on Thursday.

He continued: "If you consider it in a global sense, the future of our country and us personally, our children and grandchildren, our descendants. Today, everyone heard this. Therefore, we have a future. We look towards it with optimism. Either way, we will win, there is no other option. We will confidently get there and then go further."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian government via online form for comment.

Fears of Russia expanding its war past Ukraine have been a concern since the beginning of the conflict.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden warned in a speech that "if Putin takes Ukraine, he won't stop there," and said that if Moscow goes after a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally, the U.S. would "defend every inch of NATO territory."

However, Putin said Biden's comments are "complete nonsense" in an interview published Sunday with Russian state media.

During his annual press conference, Putin reiterated Russia's goals in its war with Ukraine.

"There will be peace when we achieve our goals. Let's return to these goals: they have not changed. I'll remind you of what we talked about then: the denazification of Ukraine, its demilitarization, its neutral status," Putin said, who added that if Ukraine does not come to an agreement on its demilitarization, then Moscow will "resolve it by force."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that negotiations with Moscow cannot be discussed until all Russian-occupied territory is returned to Kyiv's control. Ukrainian leaders have also repeatedly denied accusations from Putin that the country is run by a Nazi regime.

Shortly after launching its invasion, Russia offered to end the fighting in Ukraine if Kyiv agreed to abandon its goal of joining NATO, according to Kyiv officials familiar with the conversations. The Russian leader has previously blamed Western support for Ukraine's military on escalating the war.

Zelensky met with U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C., earlier this week to push for more aid as he said it is necessary in Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russia.

Congress is currently at an impasse when it comes to funding Ukraine. Biden has urged Congress to pass an aid package for the war-torn country, but Republicans in Congress refuse to think about funding Ukraine until immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexico border is strengthened.