No Christmas truce but yes to negotiations that lead to a stable and lasting peace . On the other hand, the situation in Ukraine is changing "drastically" and Russia "is close to achieving its priority objectives" .

These are the words of Vladimir Putin , who today held his usual end-of-year press conference.

"What is needed is not a ceasefire with Ukraine, but a long-term, lasting peace with guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens," Putin said, while a truce "could allow Ukrainian soldiers to rest, obtain the necessary equipment and ammunition, and engage in training, retraining and strengthening their personnel."

"We are ready to negotiate, but we need the Ukrainians to be ready too. Politics is the art of compromise," the Russian president continued, stressing that the dialogue with Kiev must be conducted "on the basis of the reality that is taking shape on the ground today." Just yesterday, Zelensky admitted that he does not have the strength to reconquer Crimea and Donbass .

"We," Putin points out, "have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises, but the other side refused. Soon the Ukrainians who want to fight will end ." And any peace agreements must be signed, the Russian president continues, with legitimate authorities. "The current authorities in Kiev are not legitimate," Putin attacks. " If there are elections, if someone becomes legitimate, we will talk to everyone, including Zelensky. If Ukraine really wants to take the path to a peaceful solution, it can certainly do so. But we can sign (peace agreements) only with those who are legitimate. And the Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) and the president of the Rada are legitimate ."

The nearly three years of conflict have been “a serious test for everyone,” Putin continued, adding that he himself has “almost stopped laughing” and “begun to joke less, improving my ability to concentrate on key problems and how to solve them.”

The assassination attempt on Kirillov was the result of "serious mistakes by Russian special services" . What happened "means that our law enforcement agencies and our special services let these shots pass, we must improve this work and not allow such serious mistakes".

A passage on Italy: «Despite what is happening now, we perceive in Italian society a certain sympathy for Russia , just as we have for Italy» And on Silvio Berlusconi: «A very warm person in relationships, very industrious and very tenacious. He has done a lot for the development of relations between Italy and Russia» . Berlusconi would be one of the three politicians from the past with whom Putin would sit down for tea. The other two? «The former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the former French President Jacques Chirac, leaders from whom I learned a lot, as from Berlusconi».

Syria: " Israel is the biggest beneficiary of the crisis, but it must withdraw from Syrian territory . We hope that one day it will do so, but now it is sending more troops. In my opinion, there are several thousand soldiers and I have the impression that not only will they not leave, but they will strengthen there. This line on the Golan Heights is a well-known line, Israel has advanced along the front of 62-63 km, to a depth of 25 km and entered the fortifications created for Syria by the Soviet Union."

Moscow, Putin announced, "is evacuating about 4,000 Iranian fighters from Syria at their request. We hope that there will be peace and quiet in Syria and we maintain relations with all parties. Russia has largely achieved its goals in Syria ." The Russian president also said that he has not yet met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has taken refuge in Moscow, but will do so.

ZELENSKY

"Vladimir Putin is the real Nazi of today and he talks about de-Nazifying Ukraine, he lives in his bubble," Volodymyr Zelensky replied. "He wanted to deprive us of our future, our independence, keep us in the Russian sphere, take away our army. What he wants is not an agreement and I think he also knows he is crazy and loves to kill ."

The Ukrainian president asked Trump to stop the war: "I hope he will understand me, Trump is a strong person and it is important that he is on our side and helps us stop the war ."

(Unioneonline/L)

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