Putin Signals No Rush to End Ukraine War in Marathon TV Appearance

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared in no hurry to seek an end to the war in Ukraine during his annual set-piece television event Thursday, seeking instead to project Russia’s strength despite President-elect Donald Trump’s stated goal of achieving a quick peace.

The 4½ hour long, carefully choreographed question-and-answer session saw Putin field queries from chosen media sources and ordinary Russian citizens, during which he repeatedly portrayed Russia as resistant to the effects of the conflict, which is now nearing the three-year mark.

With a month to go before Trump returns to the White House, Putin showed little sign of concern despite considerable pressures bearing down on the Kremlin, both on the front line in Ukraine and beyond. While Russia is slowly advancing, November was the deadliest month yet for Russian troops in Ukraine, according to Western assessments. Moscow also recently witnessed the unraveling of the Assad regime, its ally in Syria, which has diminished its influence in the Middle East and is also grappling with a slowing economy and runaway inflation.

“Our soldiers are gaining territory every day. We are moving forward,” Putin said. 

Trump has long said that he wants to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine but has given few details in public about how he plans to achieve it. Any attempt at brokering peace faces significant obstacles, with analysts saying that Putin believes he is winning the war regardless of Russia’s slow and costly gains. 

Putin said that an immediate cease-fire would only give Ukraine the opportunity to rearm itself. “A cease-fire means giving the enemy the opportunity to consolidate its positions, to rest and receive the necessary equipment and ammunition,” he said.

He said that what is needed isn’t a cease-fire but a lasting peace with security guarantees for Russia. However, how to provide these guarantees is a difficult question, Putin said.

Putin said he was prepared to speak to or meet Trump at any time but said that he wasn’t aware of any plans for a meeting, adding that they haven’t spoken in four years. Putin said that Russia was always prepared for negotiations but Ukraine wasn’t prepared for talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been recently shifting his rhetoric about ending the war, suggesting he is prepared to negotiate an end to the conflict.

Russia’s military expenditure hit a post-Soviet high this year and is planned to rise further, to around $130 billion next year, or more than 6% of gross domestic product.

Kyiv has been fighting back, including using Western long-range missiles to hit deep into Russian territory after Washington greenlighted their use last month. Ukraine this week killed a senior Russian general in a targeted assassination in Moscow, part of an escalating campaign by Kyiv to bring the fight to Russia and raise the immediate costs of the war for Moscow’s leaders.

Putin said that if other countries pose a threat to Russia’s existence, Moscow believes it has the right to use nuclear weapons, a warning he and other Russian officials have repeatedly issued in recent months.

Putin also highlighted the use of a new type of Russian missile, called Oreshnik, on the battlefield in Ukraine. The missile, which carried a conventional, nonnuclear warhead, appears to have greater range and speed than the weapons Russia has used previously in the war, weapons experts have said.

Putin boasted that Oreshnik was unstoppable, dismissing Western skepticism about the missile. He then goaded Western countries to participate in “a high-tech duel of the 21st century.”

“If Western experts believe [that Oreshnik can be shot down], then let them…determine some target for destruction, say in Kyiv, concentrate all their air defense and missile defense forces there, and we will strike there with the Oreshnik,” he said. “We are ready for such an experiment.”

In his first comments after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Putin said the events were “not a defeat” for Russia. He said Moscow will have to decide whether to stay in the country where it has military bases depending on who ends up ruling the country. 

The collapse of the Assad regime in Syria undermined Russia’s prestige and its ambition to be a major power broker in the Middle East. Russia’s inability to keep its key ally in power tarnishes Putin’s image as a reliable global leader, challenging his narrative of a rising Russian power opposing Western dominance, analysts say. 

Russia’s involvement in Syria, including the maintenance of crucial military bases, has been a key demonstration of its ability to project power globally. In recent days, Russia has withdrawn advanced air-defense systems and other sophisticated arms from bases in Syria and shifted them to Libya, The Wall Street Journal has reported. 

Putin said he would ask Assad, who fled to Moscow, about the fate of Austin Tice, an American who disappeared in Syria 12 years ago, and could also inquire with Syria’s new rulers about Tice’s whereabouts.

On the home front, after two years of brisk growth, Putin is now facing growing economic cracks. While oil sales and substantial military outlays have kept the economy afloat, the war has fueled imbalances, including rising inflation and a critical labor shortage. 

Putin acknowledged that “we have some troubles with inflation” but said that the economy was stable overall. 

Putin’s television appearance comes a day before the central bank is expected to further raise interest rates from the current record 21%. The bank’s campaign to tighten monetary policy to fight inflation has faced stiff resistance from Russia’s business elite, hit by shrinking margins and mounting costs.

— Kate Vtorygina contributed to this article.