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Shkruar nga PamfletiThe Russian president warned that using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine "would have serious consequences," after yesterday's summit of the 27 EU member states failed to reach an agreement on the issue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin began his annual press conference by referring to the progress of negotiations on the war in Ukraine and the situation on the front lines.
In the first minutes of the press conference, which began at 10:00 Albanian time, the Russian president stated that Moscow does not believe that Ukraine is ready for peace talks. Russia, on the other hand, is "ready" to end the war in Ukraine based on the principles it presented to the Russian Foreign Ministry in 2024.
At the same time, the Russian president expressed his satisfaction with the territorial gains recently made by the Russian army in Ukraine, assuring that it is "advancing on all fronts."
"Our troops are advancing along the entire front line (…) the enemy is retreating in all directions," he said.
According to him, the "strategic initiative" passed to Russia when Russian forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the Russian region of Kursk.
Putin said he was confident that there would be even more military successes by the end of the year, having previously said Russia intended to "move further west" following recent advances in Ukraine.
European leaders who want to use Russian assets are "thieves"
Vladimir Putin has accused the European Union of trying to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, comparing European leaders seeking to do so to "bandits" and claiming it is an act of "theft that is done openly, not secretly."
The Russian president warned that using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine "would have serious consequences," after yesterday's summit of the 27 EU member states failed to reach an agreement on the issue.
At the same time, he assessed that the seizure of Russian assets in Europe would undermine confidence in the eurozone, as "once this process begins, there is no turning back," while claiming that Russia's public finances are in a better state than those of France in terms of national debt.
The Russian president also stated that Moscow will defend itself in the courts, in jurisdictions that are not dependent on political decisions, and argued that Europe will sooner or later be forced to return what was "taken" from Russian assets.
"Over 2 million questions"
Putin, who has been in power for 25 years, has been giving this year-end press conference, which lasts several hours and is broadcast live on television, since 2001.
On this occasion, the Russian president refers to various issues, from geopolitics to the economy, or even his plans for the future and, like every year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, his statements regarding the development of this war are expected.
On Wednesday, Putin reiterated that Russia's goals in Ukraine "will certainly be achieved," whether through diplomacy or military means. He also adopted a very tough tone toward European leaders who, he said, aspire to cause Russia's "collapse."
This annual press conference is an opportunity for the Russian president to listen to complaints from citizens from different regions of Russia, the world's largest country, such as the state of hospitals or the lack of schools.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin prepared for this interview on Wednesday "until late at night", reading questions from citizens and continued his preparations throughout Thursday.
As Peskov explained, the president was asked more than two million questions, which were answered with the help of artificial intelligence. Social issues "occupied a prominent place," he emphasized in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.
The annual press conference was previously divided into two parts: in the first, Putin took questions from journalists with the participation of Western media, and then questions from citizens. Since 2023, the two parts have been combined.
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