Russian President Vladimir V. Putin will hold his year-end news conference on Thursday, recapping an annual tradition at a critical time in the war his forces are waging in Ukraine.
The December press conference has traditionally been a wide-ranging marathon that gives reporters a rare, if organized, chance to ask potentially tricky questions.
Putin finds himself in much better shape than a year earlier, when he skipped the annual ritual amid setbacks in Ukraine.
There were around 600 journalists, including a dozen Western correspondents, present at Gostiny Dvor, a large event space just a block away from Moscow’s Red Square. Mr. Putin will also answer questions from people across Russia.
Here’s a look at the topics Putin is addressing and likely to be asked about.
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Putin is approaching the third year since his invasion of Ukraine in a position of relative strength, and his responses on Thursday underlined that point. The Russian leader stated that his objectives in Ukraine have not changed: the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of the country. He reiterated that he was open to peace talks, but offered no hint of willingness to compromise.
“If they don’t want to talk, then we are forced to take other measures, including military ones,” Putin said, when one of the moderators of the press conference asked him when the war will end. And he added that he didn’t see the need for another military draft because, by his count, about 500,000 people had voluntarily signed up for military service. “Why do we need mobilization?” Said Mr. Putin. “Today there is no longer any need”.
Backed by dense defenses, Russian forces have repelled Ukraine’s counteroffensive this year and are now attacking in several areas along the front line. Russian military production is increasing, and the army, despite very high losses, was able to recover without resorting to a new wave of mobilization. And the stalemate over military aid to Ukraine in the US Congress is making Putin’s long-term bet that his country will outlast its adversaries seem more realistic.
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Putin has made the resilience of his country’s wartime economy a major topic of discussion in recent public speeches. Despite a series of international sanctions, the Russian economy has regained its pre-war size and is expected to grow by about 3% this year, as a significant increase in military spending stimulates production, while labor shortages constrain wages to increase.
But record state spending has come at a cost: Inflation has risen sharply since the spring, and Putin acknowledged Thursday that it could reach 8% this year. High interest rates are stifling private investment, companies are struggling to find workers and the economy is becoming increasingly dependent on volatile oil revenues. But for now, Putin seems happy to tout strong figures, which support his broad narrative that the worst economic effects of the war are over.
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The press conference is likely to provide Putin with many obstacles for one of his favorite topics: presenting his foreign adversaries as hypocrites and decadents.
Putin may also seek to exploit the West’s social divisions, portraying himself as a champion of socially conservative causes that resonate with many citizens around the world.
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Putin has largely succeeded in resigning Russian public opinion to war and a prolonged stalemate with the West. Organized resistance to the war is waning amid growing repression, and Putin recently cracked down on an ultranationalist minority that had criticized his war strategy.
Putin’s ability to sustain public apathy into next year is uncertain. Even if American support for Ukraine wanes, most analysts believe Putin’s forces are unlikely to achieve a decisive breakthrough without another wave of mobilization, which would be deeply unpopular.
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With the Russian political system under his firm control, Putin is expected to win another six-year term as president in March elections. In the absence of real competition between the candidates, the vote will most likely turn into a referendum on Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, and he will likely use the result to add a veneer of legitimacy to the war and to trumpet the approval of the Russians. of his actions.
If re-elected and serves another term, by 2030 Putin would become the longest-serving Russian leader since Empress Catherine the Great in the 18th century, surpassing all Soviet rulers, including Stalin.
Ivan Nechepurenko AND Anatoly Kurmanaev contributed to the reporting.
