Putin: “I am ready to meet Trump, if he wants”

Vladimir Putin said Thursday during his annual televised question-and-answer session that he was ready to meet “at any time” with US President-elect Donald Trump, who recently called for a ceasefire and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

“I don’t know when I’m going to see him. He doesn’t say anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him in over four years. I’m ready to do it, of course. Any time,” the Russian president said.

“And I will also be ready for a meeting, if he wants it,” he added.

This question-and-answer session, broadcast live on television, has taken place in various formats almost every year since Mr. Putin came to power a quarter of a century ago.

This time it took place one month before the return to the American presidency of the unpredictable Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20.

The Republican has repeatedly promised to bring peace to Ukraine “within 24 hours” and has already called for an “immediate ceasefire” and talks.

But the vagueness surrounding his plan arouses concern in Ukraine, which is in difficulty on the front and which does not want to be forced to accept unfavorable conditions.

Vladimir Putin, on the contrary, estimated that Russia had become “much stronger over the last two to three years”, the assault in Ukraine having been launched in February 2022.

“If we ever meet President-elect Trump, I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about,” he said.

Vladimir Putin showed his confidence by estimating that the situation was “changing radically” on the front in Ukraine, where his soldiers are advancing “by square kilometers”.

His troops have the advantage and are progressing at a pace not seen since the first months of 2022.

The Russian army thus brought down the Ukrainian fortresses of Avdiïvka in February and Vougledar in October and is today at the gates of several cities of military importance, such as Pokrovsk, Kurakhové and Koupiansk.

Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, admitted that he could not give a “precise date” on which his army would manage to push back Ukrainian forces from the Russian region of Kursk, of which they have controlled a small part since a surprise offensive in August.

“We will absolutely defeat them,” the Russian president nevertheless assured.

This offensive, the largest on Russian territory since the Second World War, is a source of embarrassment for the Kremlin, which wants to persuade that the assault in Ukraine has no impact on the daily lives of Russians.

The Ukrainians still occupy hundreds of square kilometers in the Kursk region despite attempts by Russian troops, supported according to kyiv by North Korean soldiers, to dislodge them.

The context of ever-increasing tensions between Russia and the West was also very present in the Russian president’s responses.

He praised his new Orechnik missile, a “modern weapon” that can carry a nuclear charge and strike thousands of kilometers away.

The Russian army used this missile for the first time on November 21 against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Mr Putin presented it as a response to recent Ukrainian strikes against Russian soil using American and British missiles.

He threatened to strike kyiv, and even directly the Western countries which arm Ukraine.

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin proposed to the West a “high-tech duel of the 21st century” between the Russian Orechnik and Western air defense assets.

“Let them determine a target, say kyiv,” he said. “We’ll throw a strike there, and see what happens.”

Another international subject of importance for Russia, Mr. Putin assured that the fall in Syria of Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Moscow, was not a “defeat” for Russia.

On the contrary, Moscow has, according to him, “achieved” its objective which was to “avoid a terrorist enclave” being created there.

The fate of the two Russian military bases in Syria, crucial for Russian operations in the Mediterranean, is however up in the air. A subject of embarrassment for the Russian president, who had committed his forces to Syria in 2015 in support of the deposed Syrian president.

Vladimir Putin said he “intends” to meet Bashar al-Assad, who has found refuge in Russia with his family.

The Russian leader also admitted Thursday that high inflation in Russia was a “worrying signal,” a rare admission made at the start of his annual televised question-and-answer session.

The Russian economy, after having resisted over the last three years, is showing signs of running out of steam, with stubborn inflation which is eating away at purchasing power, a surge in interest rates which is handicapping businesses, the fall of the ruble and gloomy outlook for 2025.

“The situation of the economy as a whole in Russia is stable, despite external threats and attempts at influence,” however, Vladimir Putin tried to convince journalists in this show watched by millions of Russians.