As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is going into its third winter, Russian President Vladimir Putin held its annual end-of-year press-conference, two days after a Kyiv-orchestrated killing of a high-ranking general on the streets of Moscow.
ADVERTISEMENT“When everything is calm, measured, stable, we are bored”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his answer to the first question at his annual end-of-year press conference, adding that “this is when everyone wants action.”
“As soon as action starts, everything whistles at our temples, and seconds, and bullets, unfortunately. .. we are scared. What a horror,” he added.
“Well, it’s not that horror. Not horror-horror.”
This was Putin’s explanation to the opening question of the moderators, who asked Putin “when the world is going crazy, how does Russia manage not only to hold on, but even to grow.”
The Russian president went on to say that the country’s economy is growing steadily, unlike the rest of the world, where “Europe’s biggest economy Germany is showing zero growth.”
Putin went on to explain the reasons for Germany’s alleged economic stagnation: “Sovereignty is a very important notion. After World War II, the Germans have been somehow not feeling their patriotic pride of being German. They see themselves as Europeans first and only then as Germans.”
And this, according to Putin, is then translated into economic prosperity or the lack of it. In contrast, Putin said the Russian economy and companies managed to ‘mobilise’ even after many Western companies left Russia after the full-scale invasion.
Is Russia’s ‘victory’ approaching?
When asked if Russia’s victory is “any closer” as Moscow’s full-scale war entered its third winter, Putin said the situation is changing. Russian troops are now “taking territories not by 100, 200, 300 metres but by square kilometres.” He then corrected himself, saying Russia’s troops are not “taking,” but “liberating” those territories.
Putin then received a prepared public phone call with a question from allegedly a citizen of Russia’s Kursk region, who asked when Kursk territory would be “freed of Ukrainian troops”.
He didn’t give an exact timeline, saying the fierce fighting was going on as he spoke, and he didn’t understand “why Ukrainian forces entered Russia’s territory”.
Putin’s rhetoric has not changed when it comes to Russia’s full-scale invasion, which Moscow continues to call “special military operation”, claiming Russia will achieve its objectives.
When commenting on Russia’s Oreshnik missile, Putin said it was created based on previous Russian design developments that have been refined.
“Oreshnik is an advanced and very new weapon,” Putin boasted, acknowledging claims by Western experts that the intercontinental missile is based on earlier Soviet developments.
The Russian president suggested that Western experts criticizing the Oreshnik system name any target in Kyiv and concentrate all air defence forces there. “Pick any target in Kyiv and deploy all your air defense systems there. Let’s see what happens.”
Putin on Trump
When asked about the Russian president’s possible contact with US President-elect Donald Trump, Putin said he has not spoken to Trump yet, and, in general, he hasn’t spoken to him in more than four years. “I don’t know when I’ll meet Trump, but I’m ready for this,” Putin said.
ADVERTISEMENTHe rejected NBC’s question, suggesting that when and if this meeting happens, Putin will be in a “weaker position”. “Russia is stronger than it has been over the past 2-3 years because we are becoming a truly sovereign country”, adding, “as for your comment about my weakness: those paying you wish for that.”
“We are strengthening our defence and military potential and readiness. We are increasing the production of everything we need now and we might need in the future,” Putin reiterated, saying that even increasing the target for defence spending to 3% of GDP “wouldn’t be enough” for Western counties.
