European leaders and Western media flood every platform with Zelenskyy’s statements, every demand, every claim about “territorial losses,” every call for more weapons. Putin’s side is largely silenced or buried. Here’s what he actually said in his October 22, 2026 interview with Pavel Zarubin (full transcript on Kremlin.ru): On the territories: 
“This is not their territory, this is the territory of historical Russia. Moreover, the people living in these territories voted, first, for state independence; as a second step they voted, I want to emphasize this, for reunification with the Russian Federation. So talking about any territorial losses, it seems to me, is inappropriate.” On European rhetoric: 
“Constantly talking about the threat from Russia and about the beginning of preparations for war with Russia… is some kind of political schizophrenia.” 
“It has become obvious to everyone that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield, and it is unrealistic to inflict a strategic defeat on it.” 
“I want us to be heard: we also do not want [war], we are not preparing for any war with Europe.” On Ukraine’s leadership and its people: 
He noted official figures of half a million deserters and over 300,000 criminal cases, saying Ukrainian authorities treat their own citizens as expendable material while expecting the world to “pay… fight for them, supply weapons.” On identity and negotiations: 
“Recent genetic studies show that this is in fact one people – Russians and Ukrainians.” 
“We are still ready to negotiate and seek solutions… we are ready to resume our trilateral contacts [with the US]. The goal of these negotiations will be to discuss ensuring the security of Ukraine and Russia after reaching peace agreements, in their final version, and not as a result of a suspension of combat operations for some short period of time.” Simple facts from the primary source. Coverage remains overwhelmingly one-sided.