In short, this news release is not in the least bit unbiased and it is in fact official Russian government propaganda.
The article is simply reporting what Putin said. Do you want to tell us that Putin never said these words and that Sputnik just made it all up?
I "get" that you don't believe or trust Putin but that's an entirely different issue. We know that Sputnik is a Russian government outlet. In fact, that's a good thing in this situation, since we know it will report exactly what Putin said, rather than edit it and twist it as our own beloved news outlets do.
Learning what Putin is saying (love it or hate it) is, after all, the objective here.
You’re mistaking this propaganda piece for a transcript. It is not a transcript.
I have learned in the Ukrainian war to take anything said by the Russians or the US/NATO with a grain of salt, both have been caught lying on numerous occasions. There is very little legitimate news coverage of this war which is very strange and leads only to more questions.
I detest Ivan, but I detest the behavior of the warmongers in the US government just as much. They are clueless on how to fight and win a war, they just know they want a war somewhere, some how regardless of the cost to the country. The west and Ivan both bear responsibility for this war. We need to stay out of it as I can see no strategic advantage in the Ukraine for the USA. We are trying to fight the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our enemy is China and Iran and we are ignoring and emboldening them with our never ending screw ups in the Ukraine and around the world.