Russian President Vladimir Putin said he "
admired the courage of the Donbass citizens
defending their republics", adding that they "fight better than a professional army".
The Tass agency reports.
"The tragedy in the Donbass - said the head of the Kremlin quoted by the Ria Novosti agency - is the result of the activities of the nationalist and neo-Nazi regime which in 2014 took power by force" in Kiev and "then kicked off to hostilities in the Donbass ".
And according to Putin, "all attempts for a peaceful solution have failed due to the position of the Kiev regime".
In addition, the Russian president assured that
Russia will continue
international
cooperation in arms reduction and in the fields of the environment and space research.
In its update report on the war cited by The Kyiv Independent newspaper, meanwhile, British intelligence claims that Russia has repeatedly failed to occupy the entire Donbass within the set deadlines.
The Ukrainian authorities have stated that the Russian army has set a deadline of 15 September for the occupation of the entire Donbass, but it is highly unlikely that it will be able to respect it, as the British Defense Ministry has stated.
So far, Russian soldiers have only advanced one kilometer a week into the Donbass
, according to the ministry.
Failure to meet deadlines will further complicate the Kremlin's efforts to organize fictitious 'referendums' in the region, the report said.