Russia will focus on achieving victory in the Ukraine conflict in 2025, the president said
Russian President Vladimir Putin, December 26, 2024. © Sputnik/Aleksander Demyanchuk
God is with Russia, President Vladimir Putin has said, expressing confidence that Moscow would prevail in its conflict with Ukraine.
Putin spoke with reporters on Thursday after a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) in St. Petersburg.
Asked whether he believes that the Ukraine conflict will end in 2025 with a Russian victory, he said: “I believe in God. And God is with us.”
He brushed off reports that the US is planning to propose to “freeze” the conflict along the current front line in exchange for a delay in Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
Putin said that such a delay was first proposed by outgoing President Joe Biden in 2021, adding that the US was told at the time that such a deal would be unacceptable to Moscow.
“We are also striving to end the conflict,” Putin said, stressing that Russia’s “number one goal” for 2025 is achieving victories on the battlefield.
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“We believe that we will be successful on the front line and accomplish our objectives in the field of the economy, as well as resolve social issues, the issues of military security, and security in the broadest sense,” the president said. “We will continue moving in accordance with our plans.”
US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine within hours of taking office. While he has declined to discuss any specifics of his proposal, the American media has cited several anonymous sources as saying that it could involve “freezing” the conflict with each side keeping the territory it currently controls. Both Moscow and Kiev have rejected an idea of an unconditional ceasefire.