From Economy to Ukraine, China, Italy: Vladimir Putin’s Maxi Press Conference

In 2023- 2023, the Russian economy grew by 8 percent. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) at his traditional final press conference on Thursday, December 19. “Russia must maintain the pace and quality of the economy. The Russian economy has grown by 8 percent in two years,” the Russian president emphasized. Putin also said that international financial and economic institutions recently awarded Russia a prestigious record of economic growth among European countries.

Russia’s economic growth would have been much higher if the country had not been forced to increase spending on security and defense. According to Putin, almost all NATO member states are at war with Russia: “Almost all NATO countries are at war against us,” the Russian president said. “In this situation, the 3% of GDP allocated for military spending in NATO countries may not be enough if the cost of production continues to rise,” Putin noted, according to whom “a 155mm artillery shell, which two years ago cost 2000 euros,” Putin noted, “now costs 8000. Four times the price. If this trend continues at the same rate, not only 2% for defense spending – which newly elected US President Donald Trump has always insisted on and is still insisting on – will be insufficient for NATO countries, but even 3 percent will not be enough.”

In this complex international context, Russia will do everything to guarantee its own security and that of its closest and most trusted ally, Belarus. “If there are threats towards Belarus, the Russian Federation will consider it as threats against Russia itself. We will do everything possible to ensure the security of Belarus. We do this in coordination with the Belarusian leadership, in coordination with the President of Belarus Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko. And I believe this is a very important component of the updated nuclear strategy of the Russian Federation,” the Russian President said.

At the level of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Putin emphasized that Russia is ready for negotiations with Ukraine, but the other side should also be ready for both dialog and constructive compromises. “We have always said we are ready for both negotiation and compromise. It’s just that the other side refused to negotiate. We’re always ready. The result of these negotiations is always a compromise. It is necessary for the other side to be ready for both negotiations and compromise,” Putin said, pointing the finger at former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “In 2022, he convinced Kiev to keep fighting, but soon there will be no one willing to do so,” the Russian president added.

It’s not very clear to Putin who to deal with in Kiev. Zelensky’s presidential term expired several months ago, so Russia will only enter into negotiations with Zelensky if the latter holds elections and is confirmed as the legitimate president of Ukraine. “If someone goes to the polls and gets legitimacy, we are ready to talk to anyone, including Zelensky,” said Putin, who said “Russia has no preconditions for starting negotiations with Ukraine, but will sign peace documents with a legitimate Ukrainian leader.” That is, Moscow “is ready to negotiate on the basis of the agreements reached” in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, but “taking into account the situation on the ground.”

Regarding international relations, Putin emphasized his readiness to meet and talk with US President-elect Donald Trump: “I’m ready for this (talk to Trump) anytime. I will be ready for a meeting if he wants it,” the Russian president said, recalling “that he has not seen Trump for more than four years.”

At the level of relations with China, Putin said that the two friendly countries do not do anything that contradicts their national interests. “We are not doing anything that contradicts our interests, but we are doing a lot to satisfy the interests of both the Chinese people and Russian Federation,” Putin said, emphasizing that “everything we do is based on full mutual trust.” The volume of trade between Russia and China is growing every year, and in 2024, according to various estimates, should reach 220-240 billion dollars.

With regard to Syria, the situation is not simple: Russia hopes that peace and calm will prevail in the country. “Today, the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic is clearly challenging. We sincerely hope that peace and tranquility will come to this country,” Putin said, recalling that “Russia intervened in Syria militarily so that a terrorist enclave would not be created like in other countries,” while the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot be considered “Russia’s defeat.”

“On the whole, we have achieved our goals in Syria,” Putin said, addressing reporters present in the hall: “You (Western journalists) want to present everything that is happening in Syria as some kind of failure, Russia’s defeat, I assure you that this is not the case,” Putin said.

Finally, in the “international” part of the press conference, Putin wanted to devote a special “chapter” to Italy. The Russian leader did so on the day Russian energy giant Gazprom delivered its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Italy from Russia’s Portovaya plant near St. Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. The gas tanker “Cool Rover” arrived at the FSRU Toscana terminal in the port of Livorno. The Portovaya LNG plant, relatively small in size, has an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons. It was commissioned in September 2022, and the first LNG shipments have been delivered to Turkey, Greece, and China.

The Russian people feel, Putin said, that Italian society has “a certain sympathy” for Russia, “and this feeling is mutual.” Despite what is happening today, “we feel that there is a certain sympathy for Russia in Italian society, just as we feel a certain sympathy for Italy,” the Russian president said, recalling the role in the development of Russian friendship with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who Putin said “had done a lot” to promote relations between the two countries. Putin mentioned Berlusconi among the “missing world leaders” who have fostered relations with Russia. In addition to the former Italian prime minister, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and former French President Jacques Chirac have been mentioned by the Kremlin chief. “If we talk about missing world leaders, I had contacts, albeit not as close, but still for quite a long period, with German Chancellor Mr. Kohl,” Putin said, adding that Kohl did a lot for his homeland and was an important world politician. As for former French President Jacques Chirac, Putin emphasized that he was a man of encyclopedic culture: “He was a very correct and gallant man, I also learned a lot from him,” the Russian president added. As for Berlusconi, Putin finally remarked that the former Italian prime minister “did a lot, like Chirac,” to develop “constructive and friendly” bilateral relations with Russia.