Putin boasts Ukraine gains, says Russia ready for missile ‘duel’ with West – National

president Vladimir Putin he boasted that his military operation in Ukraine has strengthened Russia and denied that the removal of key ally Bashar Assad in Syria had damaged Moscow’s prestige as it held its annual press conference and convocation show on Thursday.

He used the highly choreographed event, which lasted more than four hours, to reinforce his authority and demonstrate a broad command of everything from consumer prices to military hardware.

He claimed that sending troops to Ukraine in 2022 has increased Russia’s military and economic power.

“Russia has become much stronger over the last two or three years because it has become a truly sovereign country,” he said. “We are standing firm in economic terms, we are strengthening our defense potential and our military capability is now the strongest in the world.”

Putin, who has been in power for nearly a quarter of a century and was re-elected for another six-year term in February, said the military was “moving towards achieving our goals” in what he called the ‘special military operation in Ukraine.

In response to a question about a new hypersonic ballistic missile that Russia used for the first time last month to attack Ukraine, Putin scoffed at claims by some Western experts that it could be intercepted by NATO air defenses.

He mockingly challenged Ukraine’s allies to a “high-tech duel”, suggesting that Moscow could give advance warning of an Oreshnik missile attack on Kiev and see if the West could protect the city.

“Let them select a target, possibly in Kiev, put their air defense assets there and we attack it with the Oreshnik,” he said with a wry smile. “Let’s see what happens.”

Russia is making steady, if slow, progress in Ukraine, but it has also suffered embarrassing setbacks. On Tuesday, it was Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov killed by a bomb planted outside his apartment building in Moscow, a brazen killing claimed by Ukraine that brought conflict once again to the streets of the Russian capital.

Putin described Kirillov’s killing as a “big mistake” by Russia’s security agencies, noting that they should learn from it and improve their efficiency.

Moscow’s troops are also battling Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, where they have launched an incursion. Asked when they would expel the Ukrainians, Putin said “we will certainly expel them,” but did not say how long it would take.

The program, which is broadcast live on state-controlled television in Russia’s 11 time zones, is usually dominated by national issues, with journalists and ordinary people calling in to ask about rising consumer prices and mortgages, paltry pensions and a shortage of doctors. But the Russian leader is under particular scrutiny for his answers on foreign affairs.

In a flourish typical of marathon press conferences, he asked audience members to unfurl a banner presented to him by Marines fighting in Kursk as he spoke about Ukraine.

Putin said he was open to possible talks with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to broker a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“If we meet with Mr. Trump, we will have things to discuss,” he said, without elaborating.

Putin said Russia is open to compromise in possible peace talks on Ukraine.

“Politics is the art of compromise,” he said. “We have always said we are ready for both talks and compromises.” At the same time, Putin added that the talks should be based on “the situation on the ground,” referring to some of the conditions he outlined earlier.

Putin has previously demanded that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and recognize Russia’s gains. Kyiv and the West have rejected these demands.

In his first comments on Assad’s fall, Putin said he had not yet met the former Syrian ruler, whom he has given asylum in Moscow, but planned to. He said he will ask him about Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared in Syria 12 years ago.

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“We can also put the question to the people who are monitoring the situation on the ground in Syria,” Putin said, in response to a question from NBC’s Keir Simmons, who cited a letter he said Tice’s mother wrote to the Russian leader for help.

Moscow has sought to establish contacts with the rebels who ousted Assad to secure its diplomatic and military personnel in the country and to seek to extend the lease of its air and naval bases in the country.

But it is unclear how much influence Russia will have in Syria. Assad’s fall has dealt a painful blow as Russia has struggled for nine years to prop him up in the country’s civil war.

Still, Putin denied that the events had weakened Moscow, arguing that he had achieved the goal of destroying “terrorist” groups in Syria through an air campaign launched in support of Assad in 2015. He claimed that rebel groups fighting against Assad have changed and the West is now ready to establish ties with them.

“This means that our goals have been achieved,” Putin said.

He described Israel as the “main beneficiary” of Assad’s fall, and pointed to the deployment of Israeli troops in southern Syria. He expressed hope that Israel will eventually withdraw these forces, but noted that it is still building them up.

He said that Moscow will talk to the new authorities in Syria about the possible expansion of the presence of Russian bases in the country.

“If we stay there, we will have to do something in the interest of the host country,” he said, adding that Moscow had offered to use its Hemeimeen air base and a naval base in Tartus for humanitarian aid deliveries. . “What those interests might be, what we might do for them is a question that needs to be thoroughly examined by both sides.”

He noted that the Syrian army offered little resistance to the opposition offensive and said that Russia flew 4,000 Iranian troops from its Hemeimeem air base in Tehran.

Putin began the session by saying that the Russian economy is on track to grow by almost 4% this year. He has acknowledged that consumer prices are high, with inflation at 9.3%, but he has insisted that the economic situation remains “stable”.

Putin dodged a question about abortion and pornography in Russia, as well as burying the body of Soviet Union founder Vladmir Lenin, which has been on display in a mausoleum in Red Square for nearly a century.

The annual show is as much a show as the press conference. Journalists in the hall near the Kremlin wave colorful signs and banners to get Putin’s attention.

Russian state media reported that ordinary citizens submitted more than 2 million questions before the show.