Putin claims Ukraine war has made Russia 'much stronger' in year-end marathon call-in

Vladimir Putin yesterday said the war in Ukraine had made Russia "much stronger" and denied that the fall of his key ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria had hurt Moscow's standing as he held a marathon year-end press conference and television call-in, seeking to project confidence at home and abroad.

- Pjotr Sauer

Casting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as "illegitimate", Putin said he was ready to meet Donald Trump and discuss peace proposals to end his full-scale invasion, but he repeated his hard-line stance that Moscow would keep control of Crimea together with the four Ukrainian regions he laid claim to in 2022.

The closely orchestrated end-of-year event, typically an annual cocktail of Kremlin pomp and state TV camp, lasted four and a half hours and included phone-in questions from war bloggers, pensioners, as well as regional journalists vying for the microphone in Moscow.

Putin appeared largely upbeat and confident, as his troops continued to make grinding progress in Ukraine. "The situation on the battlefield is changing drastically, with movement occurring along the entire frontline," he boasted. "Every day our fighters are reclaiming territory by the square kilometre."

Putin said Moscow was "ready for negotiations and compromises" to end the fighting, but later pointed to a maximalist position that would involve Ukraine not joining Nato, adopting a neutral status and undergoing some level of demilitarisation, while also demanding that the west lift its sanctions against Russia.