President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia began his annual news conference on Friday by reaffirming the Kremlin’s determination to continue the war in Ukraine until all of its conditions were met.
Mr. Putin immediately boasted about Russia’s recent battlefield successes and said that the country was not ready to settle the conflict diplomatically unless its maximalist demands, including territorial ones, were fulfilled by Ukraine and its allies.
“The strategic initiative is completely in the hands of the Russian forces,” Mr. Putin said. He added that Russia was “ready to end the conflict peacefully” on the basis of principles he stated in June last year, a reference to the demand that Ukraine cede large swaths of its eastern territories. That is a nonstarter for Kyiv.
But even as he accused Ukraine of refusing to end the conflict peacefully or to negotiate on the question of territory, Mr. Putin said that there were “certain signals” that Kyiv was “ready to engage in some kind of dialogue.”
Russia said this week that it was waiting to meet with President Trump’s representatives to review amended peace proposals after discussions among Ukrainian, American and European officials.
Mr. Putin’s year-end news conference, an annual tradition, is an hourslong marathon where journalists and citizens pose their questions to the Russian leader. It has become an elaborately orchestrated television show and a demonstration of how, over the past three decades, Mr. Putin has solidified his position as the ultimate decision maker in the country. He is portrayed as personally engaged in everyday issues like leaking pipes in small cities, even as he oversees major matters of foreign conflict.
A dedicated studio was built in a giant exhibition center next to the Kremlin for the news conference, which started at midday. It usually sets the tone for the coming year, reflecting the Kremlin’s primary concerns and the messaging it aims to send to the world.
During past news conferences, reporters came with large posters and even fluffy toys to draw Mr. Putin’s attention. This time, only small sheets of paper were allowed, giving the event a more reserved feel. Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, asked audience members not to yell out to be chosen to ask a question.
About 2.7 million questions and requests had been submitted to the show as of Friday, according to a meter on a Russian state-run news channel. The Kremlin says it uses artificial intelligence developed by a state bank to help sift through them.
Some involve seemingly tiny problems. Residents of a small district in the city of Volgograd, for instance, sent a video plea asking Mr. Putin to help them gain access to drinkable water. In St. Petersburg, locals complained about plans to build a highway through a park.
Beyond such requests, the Kremlin carefully selects a set of questions that allow Mr. Putin to address the biggest issues facing Russia today, such as the state of the economy and the war in Ukraine.
Russian troops continue to advance in Ukraine, giving Mr. Putin little incentive to stop the fighting. This week, Ukrainian, European and American officials discussed a peace plan aimed at deterring future Russian attacks. It involved a possible deployment of European forces to Ukrainian territory, something Mr. Putin has already flatly rejected.
On Friday, Mr. Putin responded to a recent video from President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. In it, the Ukrainian leader filmed himself in front of the welcome sign to the city of Kupiansk, in eastern Ukraine, to rebut Moscow’s claims that the city had fallen to Russian troops.
“The sign is located outside the city, about a kilometer away. Well, why are you standing on the threshold? Come inside, right?” Mr. Putin said, referring to a Russian superstition that says it is bad luck to greet someone from the threshold of a home’s doorway.
The Russian leader also hit out at European leaders for considering using Russian sovereign assets frozen in Europe to extend a large loan to Ukraine.
European leaders ultimately decided on Friday to leave the Russian assets untouched for now, and to back a loan of about $105 billion to Ukraine with the European Union budget instead.
Still, Mr. Putin warned that using the frozen assets would undermine the trust of other countries that hold their sovereign assets in Europe. He argued that Europeans would set a precedent of allowing them to seize the assets of any other countries they disagreed with — like those of oil-producing nations in the Middle East that have anti-L.G.B.T. policies that Europe objects to, he said.
Traditionally, the year-end news conference allows for measured criticism of the Russian government, with many questions, broadcast live to the studio, about the economic ordeals of ordinary Russians.
“I am 67. Am I going to live long enough to see my pension above 16,000 rubles?” one woman complained on Friday, referring to about $200.
Ivan Nechepurenko covers Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the countries of the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
The post Putin Reaffirms Broad Military Goals for Russia in Ukraine appeared first on New York Times.
