The Kremlin leader answered 76 questions, of which 14 were on the issue of war. Questions came from 33 representatives of the mass media, including bloggers and moderators, as well as almost 30 Russians, including a family from Krasnodar. Additionally, questions were asked by six foreign publications, including from countries considered hostile by Moscow: the United States and Great Britain.
The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin held its end-of-year press conference. A long press conference that ended after four and a half hours.
The event was broadcast live by state television stations in Russia’s 11 time zones. Most of the journalists and ordinary people who called the studio to ask questions asked about road repairs, utility prices, home maintenance, medical services, government subsidies for families and other economic and social issues.
The Kremlin leader answered 76 questions, of which 14 were on the issue of war. Questions came from 33 representatives of the mass media, including bloggers and moderators, as well as almost 30 Russians, including a family from Krasnodar. Additionally, questions were asked by six foreign publications, including from countries considered hostile by Moscow: the United States and Great Britain.
moderate the event the military correspondent of Perviy Kanal of Russian state TV Dmitry Kulko, and the journalist of Vhtrk Aleksandra Suvorova.
“In Ukraine we don’t need a ceasefire but a lasting peace”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that Moscow does not need a ceasefire with Ukraine but “a long-term, lasting peace with guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens”while a truce – Putin always states – could allow Ukrainian soldiers to “rest, obtain the necessary equipment and ammunition” e “engage in training, retraining and strengthening staff”.
It is Putin himself who declares that Russia should have decided to intervene in Ukraine before February 2022: “if I could look at the situation in 2022, knowing what is happening now, I would have thought that the decision made at the beginning of 2022 should have been made earlier. This is the first thinga – Putin underlines -. And secondly, knowing this, we should have simply started preparing for these events, including the special military operation.”
“Russia is ready to sign peace agreements with any legitimate authority in Ukraine, even with Volodymyr Zelensky, but the current authorities in Kiev are not legitimate“Putin said. “If there will be elections – added the Russian president – if someone becomes legitimate, we will talk to everyone, including Zelensky. If Ukraine really wants to take the path towards a peaceful solution, it can certainly do so. But we can only sign peace agreements with those who are legitimate. And the Rada – the Ukrainian Parliament – and the chairman of the Rada are legitimate“
Putin: despite everything, mutual sympathy with Italy
“Despite what is happening now, we perceive in Italian society a certain sympathy for Russia, just as we have for Italy,” Putin said, recalling his relations with Silvio Berlusconi. was a person “very warm in relationships, very hardworking, very tenacious”said the head of the Kremlin, underlining that the Knight “he did a lot” per “the development of relations between Italy and Russia”. In addition to Berlusconi, Putin has nominated the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl and the former French president Jacques Chirac like the politicians he would sit with “a bere un the”. “They contributed to the development of relations with the Russian Federation”, explained the Kremlin leader during his end-of-year press conference, adding that these are leaders “from whom he learned a lot“.
The Russian economy, according to Putin
Initially, Putin claimed that the Russian economy is first in Europe and fourth in the world. He added: “It is a stable economy despite external threats.”
“International financial and economic institutions have placed Russia first in Europe by economic volume and fourth globally by purchasing power parity. Before us are China, the United States and India. We overtook Germany already last year and this year we left Japan behind us. However, this is not an indicator to ‘fall asleep’ or settle down. Everything is developing, everything is proceeding actively,” the president said.
Then, a concern for Putin: “Just yesterday, as I was preparing for today’s event, I spoke with the president of the Central Bank who told me that inflation is around 9.2-9.3 percent”, said Putin, calling it an alarming signal, compensated however by the fact that the wages would be, according to him “grew by 9 percent in real terms”.
The Kursk region and the war in Ukraine
Putin admitted that he does not know when Moscow’s troops will regain full control of the Kursk region, on the border with Ukraine. The region was stormed by Kiev’s forces in early August and partially occupied. “We will throw them out without a doubt. Absolutely. It cannot be otherwise. On a specific date, sorry, I can’t say at the moment”he stated.
On the Ukrainian front, according to Putin, Russia “is moving towards the main objectives” outlined at the beginning of the special military operation“. He brings it back Ria Novosti. “Advancements are taking place all along the front line, Russian fighters are retaking square kilometers of territory every day – he said – the capabilities of the armed forces are increasing”.
“Everyone fights, in the literal sense of the word, heroically, and at this time we wish everyone, both those fighting in the Kursk region and those fighting along the entire front line, good luck, with victory and return to house”.
In response to a question from an American journalist, Putin said that “the Kiev regime has repeatedly committed terrorist attacks against many citizens of Russia. This now applies to Kursk, to the Kursk region, where they shoot at civilians, and to other territories of Russia. They killed journalists, your colleagues, and committed terrorist acts against journalists. We have never heard words of condemnation of such terrorist attacks from the Western journalistic corps.” This was reported by the Russian news agency Tass.
The challenge to the West
There was also a mention of the “technological duel” with the United States and EU countries, relating to the new Russian hypersonic ballistic missile Oreshnik to demonstrate that it cannot be shot down by Western air defenses.
“They can designate a target in Kiev, and see if they can take it down, we would really like to do this experiment”Putin said, adding that the missile now has a range of 5,500 kilometers.
“There is no possibility for the enemy to easily shoot down or destroy the Russian Oreshnik hypersonic missile”Putin said, adding that “not even the anti-missile systems positioned on Polish territory will be able to stop it”.
Putin, Trump e Assad
The Russian president said he was ready to meet US president-elect Donald Trump, stressing that he had not spoken to him for “over four years”.
Asked about the former Syrian president Assad flown to Russia after the overthrow of his regime, Putin said he had not met him, but plans to do so.
On the geopolitical balance in Syria and Moscow’s interventions, he then commented: “Russia intervened militarily in Syria so that a terrorist enclave was not created, like that in other countries, for example in Afghanistan” but recent events, including the fall of Bashar al Assad, are not “a defeat”
“Overall, we achieved our goals,” Putin said. “You (Western journalists) want to present everything that is happening in Syria as some kind of failure, a defeat for Russia, I assure you that this is not the case.”Putin said.
Putin said he does not yet know whether Russia will maintain its military bases in Syria, because this will depend on relations with the new authorities. “We need to see how our relations will develop with those political forces that now control and will control the situation in this country in the future. Our interests must coincide.”
Moscow will maintain relations with countries and groups in the region and has called for the Khmeimim air base to be used to channel humanitarian aid.
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