Vladimir Putin has said “there will only be peace in Ukraine when we achieve our aims” as he appeared on television for his year-end press conference for the first time since he launched the invasion, seeking to project confidence in his war machine.
Calling for the “denazification of Ukraine, its demilitarisation and neutral status”, the Russian president took a hardline stance that demanded Ukraine’s unconditional surrender, after Kyiv’s lacklustre counteroffensive this summer and delays in US military aid to Ukraine brought on by partisan infighting in Washington DC.
