The Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his willingness to meet “at any time” with the elected president of United States, Donald Trump. During his traditional annual press conference, Putin responded to a question about a possible meeting with Trump, who recently advocated for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, as well as a negotiating dialogue.
“I don’t know when I’m going to see him (…) At any time,” declared the Russian president. This event, which lasted almost four and a half hours, is one of the few instances in which journalists y citizens Russians have the opportunity to directly challenge the Kremlin leader.
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Vladimir Putin’s statement comes a few weeks after Trump return to the White House. During his election campaign, the Republican promised to resolve the Ukrainian conflict expeditiously, calling for a “immediate ceasefire”. However, Europe and Ukraine fear that Trump’s approach could favor Russia, forcing kyiv to give up territory.
For its part, Vladimir Putin maintained that Russia is now “much stronger” than two or three years ago. Furthermore, he reiterated his refusal to return the conquered territories in Ukraine, conditioning any dialogue on the “reality on the ground.”
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In his speech, Putin highlighted the use of misil Oreshnik, capable of transporting nuclear cargo and with a range of thousands of kilometers. This missile was used for the first time on November 21 against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in retaliation for Western missile bombings. “Let them determine an objective, for example, Kiev (…) We will launch a bombardment there and we will see what happens,” Putin challenged.
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Russia attacked Ukraine with a difficult-to-detect hypersonic missile that traveled almost a thousand kilometers to the city of Dnipro in just 15 minutes.
Are we facing a new phase of the war? pic.twitter.com/MEkM1D1Nzr
— DW Español (@dw_espanol) November 30, 2024
Although Russian troops showed progress on the Ukrainian front, the Kremlin faces criticism for not having foreseen a military campaign that has already lasted almost three years. Vladimir Putin also admitted that Ukrainian forces control part of the Russian Kursk region since August, thanks to a surprise offensive.
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In the economic field, Putin declared that, despite “external threats”, the situation in Russia is “stable”, although he recognized that the inflation It is a “worrying sign.” In addition, he criticized his special services for serious failures such as the assassination of the Russian general Igor Kirilov in Moscowattributed to kyiv.
In Syria, Vladimir Putin noted that Russian support for President Bashar al Assad avoided the creation of a “terrorist enclave”, although he stressed that the fall of Al Assad would not mean a “defeat” for Moscow.
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