Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual end-of-year press conference on Friday.
Below are some of his comments. He spoke in Russian and his words were translated by Reuters.
On Ukraine Peace Talks
"So far, we don't really see such readiness (from Ukraine) ... But still we see ... certain signals, including from the Kyiv regime, that they are ready to engage in some kind of dialogue. The only thing I want to say is that we have always said this: we are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully, based on the principles I outlined last June (2024) at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by addressing the root causes that led to this crisis."
On US Peace Proposals
"President Trump is making serious efforts to end this conflict. He is doing so with complete sincerity. Moreover, at our meeting with President Trump in Anchorage, we agreed and practically agreed to President Trump's proposals. Therefore, to say that we are rejecting anything is completely incorrect and has no basis. At preliminary meetings in Moscow, proposals were made to us, and we were asked to make certain compromises. When I arrived in Anchorage, I said that these would not be easy decisions for us, and we agree to the compromises being proposed."
"The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and in this case, first and foremost, their European sponsors. We are ready for both negotiations and a peaceful resolution to the conflict."
On NATO
"We would also very much like to live in peace next year, free of any military conflicts. And I repeat, we would very much like to strive to resolve all contentious issues through negotiations. Of course, and I think you will agree, we need to eliminate the root causes of conflict so that nothing similar happens again, so that peace is long-lasting, strong, and sustainable."
"The movement of (NATO) military infrastructure toward our borders raises, and has raised, and continues to raise, our legitimate concerns ... We're not demanding anything out of the ordinary; we're not saying that any country doesn't have the right to choose its own defence. But it must be a method that doesn't threaten anyone, including us. We're not demanding anything that has never been proposed before."
"We're simply insisting on fulfilling the promises and commitments made by our Western partners. We've been deceived, and we want to achieve a situation where a reliable security system is built in Europe."
On Possible Elections In Ukraine
"I'll say something now that may come as a surprise: we are ready to consider ways to ensure election security in Ukraine, at least by stopping, or refraining from, attacks deep into the territory on election day."
"Millions of Ukrainian citizens, according to various estimates, between 5 and 10 million, live within the Russian Federation, all eligible to vote. If elections are to be held, we have the right to demand that those organising them ... grant Ukrainians currently living in Russia the right to vote within the Russian Federation ... I agree that the government in Ukraine must ultimately become legitimate, and without elections, this is impossible."
On Repression
"The Foreign Agents Act is not our invention; it was adopted in a number of Western countries, including the United States, back in the 1930s. And all these laws, including the law in the United States, are much harsher ... We have nothing similar. Our law only requires one thing: to declare the sources of funding if you are engaged in political activity. We have no repression or criminal prosecution."
On Prospect Of War With European Countries
"Will there be new special military operations? There won't be if you treat us with respect and respect our interests, just as we've always tried to respect yours. Unless you cheat us, like you did with NATO's eastward expansion. They said NATO wouldn't move eastwards even one inch. That's a direct quote ... Western politicians created the current situation with their own hands and continue to escalate the situation ... Are we really planning to attack Europe? What kind of nonsense is this?"
"It's not we who are fighting you. It's you who are fighting us via the Ukrainian nationalists. We are ready to cease these hostilities immediately, while ensuring Russia's security in the medium and long term. And we are ready to cooperate with you."
On The Situation At The War Front
"In general, immediately after our troops drove the enemy from the Kursk region, the initiative, the strategic initiative, passed entirely into the hands of the Russian armed forces. What does this mean? It means that our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact, in some places faster, in others more slowly, but in all directions, the enemy is retreating."
On European Efforts To Seize Russian Assets
"Theft is not the appropriate term. Theft is the clandestine appropriation of property, but in our country, they're trying to do it openly. It's daylight robbery. Why can't this robbery be carried out? Because the consequences could be grave for the robbers."
"This isn't just a blow to their image; it's an undermining of trust in the euro zone, and the fact that many countries, not just Russia, but primarily oil-producing countries, store their gold and foreign exchange reserves in the euro zone. Once this starts, it can be replicated under various pretexts..."
"Besides the image loss, there could be direct losses related to the fundamental foundations of the modern financial world order, which is why it's difficult. And most importantly, no matter what they steal, and no matter how they do it, they'll have to give it back eventually. But above all else, we will defend our interests, primarily in the courts. We will try to find a jurisdiction that will be independent of political decisions."
On The Economy And Budget
"GDP growth is 1% ... this is a deliberate move by the government, the central bank, and the entire country's leadership, related to inflation targeting. It should be noted that, overall, this objective is being met, as the goal was set to reduce inflation to at least 6%, but by the end of the year, it will likely be below 6%-5.7-5.8%. However, the slowdown in economic growth is a deliberate step, the price paid for maintaining the quality of the economy and macroeconomic indicators."
"We are managing to maintain a good rate of real wage growth. It's not as high as last year, but still ... growth will be 4.5%."
"The federal budget deficit is 2.6% of GDP, but next year we expect it to be 1.6% of GDP and should be no more than 1.5% of GDP over the next three years. This is a good indicator, considering that our public debt remains very low, one of the lowest among developed economies."
On Planned Value-Added Tax Rise
"It was decided that the most appropriate, honest and transparent way to address the challenges we face, including in the financial sphere, is to increase VAT."
"Our goals are simple ... achieving a balanced budget. And overall, this has been achieved, as I've already mentioned, in part thanks to this decision."
On Central Bank Decision To Cut Key Interest Rate
"By law, the Bank of Russia operates independently. And I try not to interfere with their decisions and try to protect them from any outside influence or pressure. Overall, the Bank of Russia is not only coping, it's acting quite responsibly."
"And this gap between actual inflation and the key rate is one of the criticisms levelled at the Central Bank. What's the problem? There are, in fact, many, but one of the problems is ... the decline in investment activity ... the number of loans issued is barely decreasing. It's decreasing, but only slightly. And this makes it necessary for the Bank of Russia to act with extreme caution, to prevent a surge in inflation and to avoid the need to take any countermeasures later."
"Is this half-percentage-point reduction sufficient or not? I won't offer any assessments now. At the expert level, I'm sure we have many good specialists. People will make the appropriate assessments, and there will be a reaction from the real economy as well."
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