Vladimir Putin sees Russia’s objectives in Ukraine closer, threatens the West and NATO, opens to negotiations with Kiev but sets unacceptable conditions for Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president, in Brussels to participate in the European Council, brands the Kremlin leader as “crazy”, who speaks for over 4 hours in the traditional end-of-year conference.
What Putin said
Putin sits down in front of the microphone in Moscow shortly after 12pm local time and gets up after 4.30pm, when he has offered his entire repertoire. “In Ukraine we advance every day, we are closer to our set objectives”, he begins, also announcing the ‘eviction’ of Ukrainian soldiers from the Russian Kursk region: “But I cannot give a precise date”. “Russia is increasingly stronger”, says Putin, responding piquedly to the direct question of the NBC News journalist who questions Moscow’s power in the new international framework.
The Russian president displays the Oreshnik, the new missile that has just debuted, and uses defiant tones towards the West: “They can’t intercept the Oreshnik, they can’t shoot it down. Let’s choose a target to defend, perhaps in Kiev, and see if they can stop the missile. It could be a useful test for the Americans too”, he says, repeating the mantra ‘everyone against Russia. “Practically all NATO countries are at war with us. The combat readiness of the Russian army is at the highest level in the world, Russia has become stronger and has become a truly sovereign state,” he says. No regrets when you think back to 2022 and the start of the war with Ukraine. On the contrary. “Such a decision should have been made earlier. We started the events of 2022 without any preparation. If we had known beforehand what was going to happen, there should have been systematic preparation,” he says.
Now, waiting for Donald Trump to arrive on the scene (“I haven’t spoken to him in 4 years, I’m ready to see him any time”)the negotiation route appears to be the only solution to a crystallized conflict. Putin’s chosen primary interlocutor is Trump, not Zelensky. “Russia is ready for negotiations” and “compromises, but the Ukrainian government so far refuses to do so,” is the first version.
“Politics is the art of compromise and we have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises. It’s just that the other side (the Kiev government, ed.) has refused to negotiate, but we are always ready “, he adds. Another question, another answer: Zelensky is an “illegitimate” president, his mandate expired on May 20th. So what? “I am ready to negotiate with him if he wins any new elections. “We will talk to anyone, including Zelensky, if he goes to the polls and gains legitimacy. “The entire Ukrainian government is illegitimate since many of its bodies are formed by a president who has lost his legitimacy,” he repeats. The target at the table it is “a long-term peace, not a truce: a short ceasefire would allow the Ukrainians to dig trenches, a longer one would allow battalions to be reorganized and trained.”
What Zelensky said
From Brussels, at the same time, Zelensky’s words. For the Ukrainian president, “Putin is a madman who loves to kill.” And here, the window for a dialogue already appears limited. Kiev’s number 1 is also betting everything or almost everything on the new president of the United States: “I want Donald Trump to help us end this war”, says Zelensky.
“I think he is a strong man and I want him on my side. I would like to discuss with him in more detail and I think it is very important”, given that “he was not in this war, because he was not president” when the war began Russian invasion of Ukraine. “It’s understandable. I hope he will understand me, because”, regardless of everyone’s past, “businessman, politician… we are simply people and we have the same emotions”.
Zelensky and Putin agree on one thing: no to the truceproposed for example by the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. “I think it is not very serious when we talk about various initiatives related to the life of Ukrainians and find out about them from the mass media. With all due respect to the Hungarian people, the prime minister does not have a personal mandate to organize the negotiations, and His relations with Putin are a little too cordial” to be able to “put him back in his place”.
Such a ceasefire risks simply freezing the conflict and providing no clarity on what will happen next. “This is why Ukraine needs security guarantees. Of course we want to end the war, we want a stable peacebut it goes without saying that Russia is not interested in this,” explains the Ukrainian president, underlining the importance of not discussing any plans regarding Ukraine without its participation.
While waiting for Trump and negotiations, we must continue to fight: “We need 19 additional air defense systems to protect the electricity grid, otherwise we will be left without 4-5 GW of energy next winter, as Russia knows well.” Are supplies arriving? “There is some movement, some confirmation, we will start receiving them from Canada and Germany. But they are not enough, we need at least 19, and also Patriot systems to protect our cities.”
