Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday, the 14th of December, where he discussed a variety of topics, reports Reuters.
During his annual press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that “peace will come when we achieve our goals” – de-Nazification, de-militarisation and maintaining Ukraine’s neutral status. Putin said that
“if they do not want to reach an agreement, then we are forced to take other measures […],”
referring to military measures, according to Reuters. Putin stated that, depending on the circumstances, the conflict could be resolved either through negotiations or by force.
On relations with the West, President Putin has expressed concern about NATO’s attitude towards Russia, in particular its efforts to include Ukraine. Putin has attributed the “tragedy” of the current conflict in Ukraine to the fact that the West “forced us to take these actions” and stressed that he sees no possibility for cooperation, according to Reuters.
Putin said that the improvement of relations would depend on internal changes in the US, calling on the US to respect and seek compromise rather than resort to sanctions and military intervention. Despite the current circumstances, Putin stated that Russia is ready for a full-fledged relationship when such a change takes place.
President Putin has also expressed his dissatisfaction with the international measures against Russian athletes, stating that these measures contradict the Pierre de Coubertin principles.
Putin also addressed the possibility of a second military draft,
providing an update on the current situation. He highlighted the effective performance of the active duty soldiers, noting that their desire to defend Russia remains strong. Putin concluded that the number of people ready to defend Russia is not decreasing and that thanks to the volunteer campaign “there must be around half a million people in total”, so there is no need for mobilisation at the moment, as per Reuters.
President Putin also discussed the economic situation. He pointed out that GDP growth is forecast at 3.5% by the end of the year, which means that the economy is recovering from the previous year’s slump. However, Putin said that the increase in inflation, which is likely to reach 8% by the end of the year, was a cause for concern. He assured that both the central bank and the government were taking the necessary measures to tackle the inflation problem, writes Reuters.
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