Putin tells his annual news conference that the Kremlin's military goals
will be achieved in Ukraine
[December 19, 2025]
By HARRIET MORRIS
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow’s
troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine, voicing
confidence that the Kremlin's military goals would be achieved nearly
four years after he ordered troops into the neighboring country.
Speaking at his highly orchestrated year-end news conference, Putin
declared that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative”
and would make more gains by the year's end.
In the early days of the conflict in 2022, Ukraine's forces managed to
thwart an attempt by Russia’s larger, better-equipped army, to capture
the capital of Kyiv. But the fighting soon settled into grinding
battles, and Moscow's troops have made slow but steady progress over the
years. Putin frequently touts this progress — even though it is not the
lightning advance many expected.
“Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact, faster in some
areas or slower in some others, but the enemy is retreating in all
sectors,” Putin said at the annual live news conference, which is
combined with a nationwide call-in show that offers Russians across the
country the opportunity to ask questions of their leader.
Putin, who has ruled the country for 25 years, has used the event to
cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.
This year, observers are watching particularly for Putin’s remarks on
Ukraine and the peace plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Despite an extensive diplomatic push, Washington's efforts have run into
sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that
would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the
Kremlin’s tough conditions for a deal.
Earlier this week, Putin warned that Moscow would seek to extend its
gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s
demands.
The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by
his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014,
to be recognized as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine
withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t
captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these demands.
[to top of second column]
|
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news
conference and call-in show at Gostinny Dvor, in Moscow, on Friday,
Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join
the Western NATO military alliance and warned that it wouldn't
accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and would view
them as “legitimate target.”
Putin also has repeatedly said that Ukraine must limit the size of
its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands
he has made from the onset of the conflict.
Asked this week about whether Ukraine could abandon its bid to join
NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his "position
remains unchanged.”
″The United States don’t see us in NATO, for now," he said.
“Politicians change.”
As it faces grinding Russian advances across the front line and
relentless attacks on its energy facilities, Ukraine is in on the
verge of bankruptcy — and it desperately needs more cash from its
Western allies.
On Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide a massive
interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with
Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to
raise the funds.
The leaders worked deep into night to reassure Belgium, where most
of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any
retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but as the talks
bogged down the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on
capital markets.
Putin commented that using the Russian assets to help Kyiv would
have amounted to “robbery,” adding that the move would have spooked
investors, “dealing not only an image blow but undermining
confidence in the eurozone.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
