Putin: ‘No Doubt’ Special Military Operation in Ukraine Will Achieve Result

Russia’s TASS news agency cited Putin as making the remark in a speech on Monday after overseeing the annual military parade on Moscow's Red Square to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

"All plans are being fulfilled. The result will be achieved - on that account there is no doubt," the Russian leader was quoted as saying.

"Russia would have used any opportunity to iron out the situation in Ukraine by peaceful means, but it had not been given any chance to do this," he said.

"If there had been at least one chance to solve this issue by other, peaceful means, we would have certainly used this chance. But we were not given this chance, simply not," the Russian president added.

Around 11,000 soldiers participated in the parade on Moscow's Red Square. Military parades also took place in Vladivostok and Novosibirsk.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Putin said one of the goals of the military operation was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Western countries have responded to the Russian military campaign by backing Ukraine with cash and increasingly heavy weaponry while imposing sanctions against Moscow.

The conflict in Ukraine has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 13 million, creating the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.