Details of President Putin's discussion

(CLO) Russian President Vladimir Putin held a wide-ranging live televised debate on Thursday. The annual event lasted more than four hours and saw him address many hot topics of the day.

Ready to negotiate with Mr. Trump to end the conflict in Ukraine

President Putin said Russia is ready to compromise on Ukraine in possible talks with US President-elect Donald Trump on ending the conflict with Ukraine.

"We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises," Putin said after saying Russian forces were making progress on the entire front and were moving towards achieving their main goals in Ukraine.

Details of the discussion between president putin from ukraine israel trump zelenskyy to china picture 1 — View of the discussion. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev

"Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out, in my opinion, soon no one will want to fight anymore. We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromise."

President Zelenskyy needs to be legally re-elected

President Putin said this time that Russia has no conditions for starting negotiations with Ukraine and is ready to negotiate with anyone, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

But he said any agreement could only be signed with Ukraine's legitimate authorities, which the Kremlin currently considers to be the Ukrainian parliament.

Mr Putin said President Zelenskyy, whose term expired but was extended due to martial law, would need to be re-elected for Moscow to be seen as a legitimate signatory to any deal.

Mr Putin rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire with Kiev, saying only a lasting peace deal with Ukraine would be truly secure.

He added that any talks should take as their starting point a preliminary agreement reached between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the early weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, but which was never implemented.

Russia has basically achieved its goals in Ukraine.

Russia sees its special military operation in Ukraine as a defensive operation aimed at preventing NATO's dangerous expansion eastward into Europe.

Mr Putin said the fighting was complex, so "it is difficult and pointless to predict what will happen... but we are moving towards solving the main tasks that we outlined at the start of the special military operation".

Regarding the continued presence of Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, President Putin said that Kiev's army would be forced to retreat.

Russia should have sent troops into Ukraine sooner

Asked if he would have done anything differently about Ukraine, Mr Putin said he should have sent troops into Ukraine earlier than 2022 and that Russia should have prepared better and earlier for the conflict.

“You know, if I could look at the situation in 2022, knowing what's going on now, what would I think? That such a decision, made in early 2022, should have been made earlier,” he said.

President Putin added that he acted at the time “because it was impossible to stand still and wait for the situation to get worse for us – that was all that was needed”.

"We have escaped the brink of the abyss"

Asked whether he had taken care of Russia, something Boris Yeltsin had asked him to do before handing over the presidency at the end of 1999, Mr Putin replied that he had done so.

“We have come back from the brink,” Mr Putin said. “I have done everything to ensure that Russia remains an independent and sovereign power, capable of making decisions in its own interests.”

Oreshnik is invincible

Also during the discussion, Mr. Putin praised the invincibility of the "Oreshnik" hypersonic missile that Russia once launched at a Ukrainian military factory.

He also said he was ready to conduct another launch into Ukraine and see if Western air defense systems could shoot it down.

Israel is the big winner in Syria

Back in the Middle East, Mr Putin acknowledged that Israel emerged as a key player in Syria but dismissed any suggestion that Russia had suffered defeat.

“Israel has gained influence in Syria… but we have achieved our goals,” he argued.

“Russia's presence there has always been aimed at countering terrorism, stabilizing the region and stopping the Islamic State (IS),” he explained.

President Zelenskyy may go abroad

Mr Putin speculated that President Zelensky might seek exile, alluding to the potential political fallout in Ukraine. “He will have the support of those whose interests he serves today,” the Russian president remarked, referring to Western leaders.

Relations with China at an all-time high

Mr Putin hailed the partnership between Russia and China as unprecedentedly strong, stressing its geopolitical importance.

“Our relationship with China is at an all-time high – both economically and strategically,” he declared, highlighting joint energy projects and military cooperation.