Vladimir Putin told Russians that the war with Ukraine will not end until we “reach our goals” during his end of year news conference.
During his address to the nation, which includes calls from Russian citizens and troops on the frontline, Putin said peace would only be achieved once the "de-Nazification and de-militarisation” of Ukraine had been completed.
Putin, who has held power for 24 years and will run for re-election next year, also demanded that Ukraine must remain neutral and not become a member of Nato.
“There will be peace in Ukraine when we achieve our objectives,” he said. “Those objectives do not change.”
The Russian president then went on to attack the West for their "aspirations to creep up to our borders".
He added: “The Russians and the Ukrainians are one people, essentially, and what we are witnessing now is a great tragedy resembling a civil war between brothers on opposing sides.
“And it is not even their fault, the entire southeast of Ukraine has always been pro-Russian.”
Now approaching two years on since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin said “enemy forces have failed everywhere” sand that Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership had been “foolish”.
Despite reports of heavy losses on the Russian side, Putin insisted there is no need for a further recruitment drive, boasting that some 244,000 troops who were called up to fight in Ukraine are currently on the battlefield.
He added that a further 486,000 soldiers have signed a contract with the Russian military.
Despite Putin’s comments, Sir Alex Younger, the former head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, said the Russian president is not winning the war.
“That is not in any sense winning,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme amid reports that an estimated 350,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured and that the frontlines were now “entirely static”.
Sir Alex did stress, however, that the West must continue its support for Ukraine as the US stalls on approving a new aid package.
“Putin’s conviction is that Russia has infinite reserves of strategic patience, a capacity for sacrifice that is knitted into their history, and that he simply has to wait this out,” Sir Alex said.
“We do have to stay in this for the long term.”
