I should have invaded Ukraine sooner, Putin tells Russians in TV marathon

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia should have launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier and been better prepared for war.

At his year-end press conference on Thursday, Putin said, with hindsight, there should have been “systemic preparation” for a 2022 invasion, which he referred to as a “special military operation.”

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and pro-Russian forces began fighting in eastern Ukraine, but eight years later Putin tried to capture Kiev.

During his four-hour-long appearance, Putin also spoke about Syria’s ousted leader, Russia’s more aggressive nuclear doctrine, as well as domestic issues such as the price of butter.

The event, billed as “Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin”, was broadcast live on main state TV channels on Thursday.

Putin appeared in front of a large blue screen emblazoned with a map of the Russian Federation along with the occupied parts of Ukraine.

They asked questions from members of the public, foreign journalists and pensioners – but it was a highly organized and strictly controlled affair.

When asked by the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg whether he thought the country was in a better position than where his predecessor Boris Yeltsin left it 25 years ago, Putin said that Russia had regained its “sovereignty”. Have taken.

“With everything that was happening with Russia before that, we were moving toward a complete, total loss of our sovereignty.”

Asked about the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, Putin insisted it was not a defeat for the Kremlin – which supported President Bashar al-Assad militarily for years – but he acknowledged the situation was “complex.” .

He said he had not yet spoken to the ousted Syrian leader, who fled to Moscow earlier this month as rebel forces closed in on Damascus, but he planned to do so soon.

He said Russia was in talks with Syria’s new rulers to retain two strategically important military bases on the Mediterranean coast and that Moscow would consider using them for humanitarian purposes.

On US President-elect Donald Trump, Putin said the pair have not spoken for four years, but he is ready to meet him if he wishes.

When asked whether he was in a weaker position than Trump, who is due to take office in January, Putin quoted American author Mark Twain: “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” he told the conference. There were bursts of laughter in the hall.

Moving to China, Putin said Russia’s relations with its eastern neighbor have reached an all-time high and the two countries are coordinating actions on the world stage.

“Over the past decade, the level and quality of our (Russia-China) relations has reached a point it has never been in our entire history,” he said.

A long part of the session focused on the war in Ukraine, with Putin saying he was “ready to make compromises” to end the war – though it was unclear what such compromises might entail.

He described his troops as “heroes”, saying Russian forces were making progress on the front lines “every day”.

At one point, he presented a signed flag, which he said was given to him by Russian marines who were “fighting for the motherland” in the Kursk area, and asked two observers to place it behind him in front of the camera. Called for.

He also talked about Russia’s construction projects in areas seized from Ukraine and claimed that the standard of roads had significantly improved since Russian-backed forces seized the Ukrainian region of Luhansk in 2014.

When an audience member asked whether the West had “got the message” on Russia’s change in its nuclear doctrine, Joe Putin pushed ahead in November“You’ll have to ask them,” he said.

The new nuclear doctrine allows Russia to launch a nuclear attack on any country if it is backed by a nuclear power.

This means that if Ukraine launches a major attack on Russia with conventional missiles, drones or aircraft, it could meet the criteria for a nuclear response, such as an attack on Belarus or any serious threat to Russia’s sovereignty. Is.

Putin also emphasized the capabilities of Russia’s new medium-range ballistic missile, the Oreshnik, which was used in the November attack on Ukraine.

To test its power, he suggested that Russia should fire the Oreshnik towards Ukraine, and Ukrainian air defenses – using US-supplied systems – should attempt to bring it down.

As for the name “Oreshnik”? “Honestly,” Putin said, smiling, “no idea. No clue.”

A major theme throughout the event was “Russian sovereignty”, with Putin claiming that reduced reliance on international partners – partly a result of Western sanctions – was one of the key achievements of his invasion of Ukraine.

He said the economy was “stable”, pointing to higher growth than countries like Germany, but acknowledged that inflation of 9.1% was “worrying”.

In fact, the economy is becoming increasingly dependent on military production – sometimes referred to as the “military industrial complex”.

Throughout the address, Putin also answered questions on domestic issues – from telephone scammers to young people’s struggle to get a mortgage.