Putin says no peace solution in Ukraine until Russia achieves war aims

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a peace solution in Ukraine on Thursday, vowing to achieve Russia’s military aims in the country as the war has increasingly turned in Moscow’s favor.

Putin told reporters at an annual end-of-year news conference the fighting would end when he secures the “denazification” and demilitarization of Ukraine, along with establishing Kyiv as a neutral country between Russia and the Western security alliance NATO.

“There will be peace when we achieve our goals,” Putin said.

He also emphasized Russia was in a stronger position over Ukraine in the current phase of the war, saying Ukrainians are not producing a majority of the weapons they need and are relying on Western supporters that are slowing down aid.

“They bring everything for free. But this freebie may end someday, and apparently, it is ending little by little,” Putin said, referring to military aid.

Putin has bet that Western supporters will stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, a reality that appears to be slowly forming. Poland and Slovakia have stopped new arms shipments and the U.S. is struggling to approve a new aid package.

The media conference, which Putin skipped last year after Ukraine took back two regions from Russian forces in a counteroffensive, shows the Russian leader is becoming bolder and more confident about the war.

The comments follow the failure of Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which launched over the summer with high hopes. Ukrainian soldiers could not make significant progress against entrenched Russian forces in the eastern region of Ukraine and have likely suffered heavy casualties.

Putin on Thursday claimed Russia destroyed more than 2,000 tanks and other armor in Ukraine’s counteroffensive and that losses of Ukrainian troops have also been high.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington this week to portray a strong and positive message in a bid to shore up support from his biggest ally.

Zelensky said Ukraine is continuing to hold the line against Russian forces and inflicting heavy losses, while it forced a Russian naval retreat in the Black Sea this year, and he refused to negotiate when asked whether he would cede any territory.

“That’s insane, to be honest,” he said. “I don’t know whose idea it is. I have question to these people, if they are ready to give up their children to terrorists. I think no.”

While Russia struggled in the first year of the war — as forces were pushed back from the capital of Kyiv and western Ukraine — the war has now shifted in Moscow’s favor. Putin is trying to lock Ukraine into a long war, increasing the size of his army and the Russian military budget.

The Russian leader told media correspondents that he would not order another round of mobilization after Russia ordered one in September 2022. He said Russia’s position across the 600-mile front was improving.

“Almost along the entire line of contact, our armed forces, let’s put it modestly, are improving their position,” he said. “Almost everyone is in the active stage of action … and throughout the process the situation of our troops is improving.”