/ world today news/ The President of Russia armed himself with a black marker, took numerous notes and cheerfully answered questions from his fellow citizens for more than four hours. As the Western media write, Vladimir Putin does not seem vulnerable and has reason to be confident that Russia will succeed in the conflict with the West over Ukraine.
“Vladimir Putin has emerged as a military leader with complete control over the course of military operations and his country. His confidence was on display at a four-hour news conference that highlighted the Russian leader’s apparent determination to outlast Ukraine and the West.”
“Peace will come when we achieve our goals,” Putin said. Speaking about the West’s military aid to Ukraine, he added: “They get everything on the front end. But that advantage could end at any moment, and it looks like it’s already starting to end,” the New York Times quoted the Russian president as saying.
According to the authors of the publication, “Putin spoke on Thursday from a position of relative strength.” “Russian troops have repelled a Ukrainian counter-offensive this year and are now attacking several areas along the front line. Russia’s military production is increasing and Western sanctions have failed to harm the economy,” the analysts added.
“Calling for Ukraine’s denazification, demilitarization and neutral status, the Russian president has taken a hard line, demanding Ukraine’s unconditional surrender after a half-hearted counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces this summer and a delay in US military aid to Ukraine caused by partisan infighting in Washington,” it added. Guardian”.
It also noted the president’s intention to reassure the public with the statement that “the Russian army has recruited almost 500,000 contract servicemen into its ranks,” so the military does not need mobilization.
A similar point of view is shared by the “Financial Times”: “Putin intends to continue the fight if Kiev does not capitulate. His demands, which also include Ukraine abandoning its application for NATO membership, essentially amount to its complete capitulation and acceptance of Russia’s long-term dominance.
“At the same time, Ukrainian optimism has faded recently as the West’s resolve to support Kiev has weakened. Putin also hinted that Russia has plans for two other Ukrainian regions on the Black Sea, which he says have “nothing to do” with Ukraine. “Odessa is a Russian city. We know that. Everyone knows that. But no, they invented all kinds of historical nonsense,” the Financial Times quoted the Russian leader as saying.
Moreover, “Putin insisted that the conflict in Ukraine is nothing compared to the disaster in the Gaza Strip: “Look at what is happening in the Gaza Strip and notice the difference. Nothing like that happens in Ukraine.”
Bloomberg also believes that “Putin has reason to feel confident in a situation where Zelensky is struggling to get more help from the West.” “This came after the summer counteroffensive of the VSU failed to break through Russia’s defensive lines, disappointing allies and raising doubts about Kiev’s ability to push back Putin’s army,” the authors state.
The German media try to interpret Putin’s statements by referring to the consciousness of Russians. “Putin has the strength to continue the conflict. And he will not give in, he will want to achieve his minimum goals. This is Putin. He perfectly understands that losers do not listen, unlike winners. Therefore, he will try to bring this war for himself and for Russia to victory. This is the Russian vision of what is happening, no more, no less,” writes Die Welt newspaper.
Die Welt correspondent Christoph Wanner also added: “Moscow is circumventing sanctions where it can. Russia has created a shadow fleet of oil tankers with which it sells its oil to those partners for whom this is not a problem. It receives huge sums of money, and its defense industry has been operating since Soviet times. In addition, modernization is underway.”
The British media fear that Russia will interfere in the West’s plans and hope to integrate Ukraine into its structures. “When EU leaders met in Brussels, in Moscow their antagonist, President Putin, was speaking as belligerently as ever. Russia has learned from its mistakes and is arming itself faster than Ukraine is arming itself with the West. And time is on his side,” according to Sky News.
“Disagreements in Washington and Brussels could jeopardize future support for Ukraine. There will be many more stages in the decades-long effort to join the EU, any of which could derail his chances. So we should not be fooled about Putin’s determination to do everything possible to prevent this,” London said.
In turn, the French media, including the Le Figaro newspaper, drew attention to Putin’s words about Moscow’s readiness to cooperate with Paris and criticism of Emmanuel Macron for breaking off contacts. “If there is interest, please, we are ready. If there is no interest, we will do without it,” the oldest newspaper in France quoted the president as saying.
At the same time, Le Monde writes that Putin’s visit to the Middle East and his big press conference should send clear signals: Russia is being heard, it plays a leading role in the world, it is moving forward and it does not consider itself bogged down in Ukraine. “Today, Putin is in a better situation than a year ago and believes that time is now on his side,” the authors note.
“Armed with a black felt-tip pen, Putin took copious notes, underlining words and circling paragraphs. He seemed relaxed and quite cheerful, despite the cough that appeared at the fourth hour because of the air conditioner,” added the authors of Le Pont magazine, pointing to the president’s intransigence regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
“He doesn’t feel vulnerable, he looks confident and reads the liturgy of the Russians,” summed up one of France’s three biggest newspapers, Liberation. “He announced that he will run for office in March 2024. By the way, on those same days, the Russian Federation will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the unification with Crimea,” the publication recalls, drawing attention to Putin’s words about “the tacit complicity of Europe” in the organized coup in Kiev by “our American friends”.
Against this background, Ukrainian media and bloggers paid special attention to the supposedly “inconvenient for the Kremlin” questions, which were shown on the screens in the hall where Putin summarized the “Results of the Year”. “Today’s press conference by Putin was connected to a scandal because of a statement by Alexei Arestovich, who saw in it a sign that Russia has an advantage over Ukraine,” wrote “Strana.”
“Putin gives a press conference on a yellow-blue background. If Zelensky had spoken in white-blue-red, he would have already burned out. Putin calls us brothers and one nation, and we call them pigs and orcs. On Putin’s screen, there are embarrassing questions from Russians. In your opinion, who has an advantage: us or them?”, the publication quotes the reasoning of Zelensky’s former comrade.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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