Putin assures at his annual press conference that he is ready to meet with Trump
The Russian leader gave his year-end interview on Thursday in which he reviewed the key points of Russia's political agenda at home and abroad.
Vladimir Putin gives his annual press conference.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual press conference at which he reviewed the main points of the country's political agenda. This year, that agenda is particularly marked by Ukraine's developments in Russia's Kursk region, the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Russia's withdrawal from Syria.
Since Putin came to power 25 years ago, this question-and-answer session has taken place almost every year, in various formats. It is broadcast live on television and watched by millions of people.
Putin's press conference comes just two days after a Russian Armed Forces lieutenant general was killed on Russian soil in an attack claimed by Ukraine. Igor Kirilov, who was in charge of the Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Defense programs, was the victim of a crude explosion in an assassination ordered on an Uzbek, arrested only yesterday. Kirilov is the highest-ranking military officer to be killed in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
In connection with this war assassination, Putin admitted Thursday that Russian intelligence services failed in their duties by allowing Ukraine to strike a blow at Moscow, the heart of Russia. "Our special services did not see these blows coming. That means we have to do a better job. We cannot allow such serious blunders to happen," Putin told the press conference.
Putin says he is ready to meet with Trump at "any time"
One of the unknowns since the election campaign is whether the election of Donald Trump would be an incentive for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Trump assured several times on the campaign trail that, if he reached the White House, he would effectively end the conflict in which the Biden administration has poured billions in aid to Kiev.
Putin said Thursday he was ready to meet "at any time" with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who recently called for a cease-fire and for Russia and Ukraine to negotiate a way out of the conflict.
"I don't know when I'm going to see him. I haven't spoken to him for more than four years, but I'm ready for it, of course. At any time," the Russian president said at his year-end press conference.
"And I will also be ready for a meeting if he wants," the 72-year-old leader added.
Paralysis on the Kursk front
Ukrainian troops advanced in Russia's Kursk region as part of a counteroffensive to open a new front. This allows the Ukrainians to distract Russian efforts and also to have something to negotiate with in hypothetical cease-fire talks.
Regarding the Ukrainian offensive inside Russia, Putin admitted Thursday that he does not know when they will be able to dislodge them from their positions in Kursk. He maintained however the official tone and assured that sooner or later, Russia will win.
The Russian army seized the Ukrainian towns of Avdiivka in February and Vugledar in October, and is at the gates of several militarily important cities, such as Pokrovsk, Kurakhov and Kupiansk.
Putin also extolled the new Russian Oreshnik missile, a "modern weapon" capable of carrying nuclear payloads and with a range of thousands of kilometers.
Russia first used that missile on November 21, against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in response, according to Putin, to Ukrainian shelling of Russian territory with U.S. and British missiles.
On Thursday, the president challenged the West to a "high-tech duel of the 21st century" between the Oreshnik missile and Western anti-aircraft defense systems.
"Let them determine a target, for example, Kiev," launched Putin, "We will launch a bombing there and see what happens."
Putin does not want Syria to be a defeat
In this speech in front of the nation, Putin also made his first broader and more restful assessments regarding the situation in Syria.
There, earlier this month, Islamist rebels overthrew the regime of Bashar Assad in what looks like the final phase of the civil war that began between the oppositions and the Arab socialist-style government. The defeat of Assad is a hard geopolitical blow for Russia, which became the main ally of the Assadist regime.
In Syria, the Kremlin kept several military bases in operation, in addition to the important naval base in Tartus, which gave Russia the opportunity to operate in the Mediterranean Sea.
Putin assured that this change in the Syrian scenario does not mean a defeat for Russia. "There is an attempt to present what happened in Syria as a defeat for Russia. I assure you that this is not the case," the Russian president stated during his annual major press conference.
"We went to Syria ten years ago to prevent the creation there of a terrorist enclave, as in Afghanistan. On the whole, we achieved our goal," he said.
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