“I will negotiate with Kiev if it goes to the vote.” Press conference and end-of-year show

Relaxed and confident. Vladimir Putin appears on Russian televisions for a four and a half hour end-of-year press conference in which he responds not only to journalists, but to a selection of 2 million questions from ordinary citizens. And all entering elementary and middle school classes to be seen by audiences of teenage students, as shown on state TV. The objective is the usual one: to underline the strength and resilience of the Great Mother Russia, and to establish the stakes of a possible negotiation with Ukraine when the man who promised peace in a few hours arrives in the White House, Donald Trump. “We will be able to talk to him about many things”, alludes to Putin, who considers him a friend.

THE CONDITIONS

«Politics is the art of compromise – he warns – and we have always said that we are ready for negotiation and compromises, but the talks must be based on the situation on the ground». On the Russian advance and taking control of large parts of Donbass, Crimea annexed in 2014 and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. A condition that Kiev currently rejects. Putin wants the defenestration of Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader and great enemy. He calls for its fall before starting the talks, with a justification that sounds in line with the values ​​of Western democracies. «We are ready to sign peace with any legitimate authority in Ukraine, but the current authorities are not legitimate». The elections were supposed to be held last May, but the war prevented it. “If Ukraine wants to take the path towards a peaceful solution, it certainly can do so,” concedes Putin.

«But we can only sign agreements with those who are legitimate. If there are elections, if someone becomes legitimate, we will talk to everyone, including Zelensky. But first let’s vote.” How could Putin claim to have won the war without eliminating the Ukrainian “Nazi leadership”? The Tsar claims certified political victory, not just military, although he can have neither one nor the other.

How is Putin, the cough during the end-of-year press conference reopens the debate on the Russian president’s health

THE GOAL

The aims of the military special operation, as the Tsar calls it, are territorial, but also political. They touch on the nature of the future Ukrainian government, and the prospects of joining NATO and the European Union. The first is strictly excluded, not only for a limited period as someone has mentioned in recent days. The second, EU entry, is standing but will encounter obstacles. “We remain strong in the economy, and we are strengthening the defense potential,” Putin says. “Today, our military capability is the strongest in the world.” This is demonstrated by the Oreshnik hypersonic missile, “practically impossible to shoot down even for the anti-missile systems installed in Romania and Poland”.

The Tsar indicates friends and enemies: among the former, China and Belarus, among the latter, NATO and its component countries, which Putin considers “at war with us”. As for the last two sensational failures of the Russian Intelligence, namely the killing of General Igor Kirillov in Moscow and the fall of a strategic ally like Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Putin criticizes his security services by saying that “they must learn from their mistakes » and denies that the Syrian revolution has damaged «Russia’s prestige».

Indeed, with a bold sophistry he claims that the transformation of the jihadists into apparently moderate forces is “a success for Russia”. He explains that he has not met Bashar al-Assad but that he will soon, and poses as a possible mediator with Assad to ask him for information on the disappearance of the American journalist Austin Tice, twelve years ago. As for the Russian bases, the attempt to keep them in Syria is evident, with the promise among other things to use them to aid the Syrian population.

Putin says that if he could go back, he would have invaded Ukraine even before February 2022. “Now there is no need for a truce, but for long-term peace.” The finish line is near. “The military equipment, ammunition, supplies and, most importantly, personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are running out.”

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