LIVE: Putin boasts EU failed its ‘robbery’ of frozen Russian assets

Putin said Trump was right in filing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC after the broadcaster edited clips of a speech by the president that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capital.

The BBC has apologised to Trump and has said it will defend the case.

Putin praised Donald Trump for “making serious efforts” to end the conflict in Ukraine.

“As I have said repeatedly, I think he is doing so in an absolutely sincere manner,” he said about the US president.

His remarks about Trump come as the US president has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end nearly four years fighting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But Washington’s efforts to end the conflict have seemingly run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Putin said Russia had cooperated with NATO, but that ‘the promises that were given to us about non-expansion were false’.

“There were certain waves of NATO expansion… this caused our concern in the past and causes us concern now.”

Putin has frequently blamed the military alliance’s expansion in Ukraine for its invasion.

Since 2001, Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a press conference at the end of the year.

He typically uses it to field dozens of questions on everything from nuclear weapons to the price of eggs.

Some are posed by journalists and others by ordinary Russians, who can submit them online or by phone.

The Kremlin said it had received more ⁠than 2.6 million questions in advance.

It styles the event as a demonstration of Putin’s openness to respond to questions on any topic, and his willingness to respond to the concerns of citizens.

Putin said that the “ball” to end the war in Ukraine was in the West’s and Kyiv’s court, and denied that Moscow was dragging out negotiations and turning down proposals on the almost four-year conflict.

“The ball is entirely and fully on the court of the head of the Kyiv regime and its European sponsors,” Putin said, adding that Moscow had accepted some “compromises” in a US-proposed deal.

Vladimir Putin has declared more than 400,000 people joined the Russian Army last year with bosses now holding a competition for those who want to join the military.

Speaking at his end of year conference, Putin said students were taking academic leave to become drone operators after Russia established a separate military branch dedicated to drone warfare.

He said:

Over 400,000 people joined the army… last year. The number of people who want to serve in the newly created type of military [using drones]… is such that the Ministry of Defence has to create a competition.

Putin also talked up the Russian Army by telling the nation the country’s troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine, voicing confidence that the Kremlin’s military goals would be achieved.

The President declared Russian forces have ‘fully seized strategic initiative’ and would make more gains by the year’s end.

He said:

Our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact… the enemy is retreating in all directions.

Earlier this week, Putin warned this week that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands.

Vladimir Putin insisted any Russian money used by the EU would have to be repaid as he vowed to take leaders to court over plans to give his country’s assets to Ukraine.

The plan had been to use some of the £180.5 billion worth of Russian assets that are frozen in Europe, mostly in Belgium.

However, EU leaders failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.

Here’s a full translation of what Putin said on the EU plan:

It’s not easy to make decisions related to stealing other people’s money. But there are other, more serious consequences for those who try to do this. This is not just a blow to the image – it undermines trust in the eurozone in this case, because, of course, many countries, not just Russia, store their gold and foreign exchange reserves in the eurozone.

In addition to image losses, there may be direct losses related to the fundamental foundations of the modern financial world order. That’s why it’s not easy. And most importantly: no matter what they steal and how they do it, they will eventually have to give it back.

The set for Putin’s speech appeared to include some rather pointed messaging regarding contested territories at his press conference on Friday.

Hung up behind him as he delivers his address is a massive map of Russia, but at the far left-hand side, there is the outline of Crimea as well as all but four of the eastern Ukrainian regions which Russia annexed in 2022 – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Russian forces are yet to conquer these territories in their entirety, but the Russian leader has claimed them as his own.

Putin said that Russia’s terms for ending the war ‌in Ukraine were unchanged from those he laid out in June 2024, offering no sign of compromise as US President Donald Trump pushes hard for a settlement to the conflict.

The Russian leader said he did not see readiness on the Ukrainian side to agree a peace deal, but there were “certain signals” it was willing to engage in dialogue.

“The only thing I want to ​say is that we have always said this: we are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully, based on the principles I outlined last June ​at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by addressing the root causes that led to ​this crisis,” Putin said.

Commenting on a European Union decision to ​set aside a plan to ​use frozen ​Russian assets as backing ⁠for a loan to Ukraine, Putin called the attempted ​scheme ‘a robbery’ and promised that Moscow would defend its interests ‍in ‍the courts.

Speaking at his end-of-year press conference, Putin said that ⁠the EU plan had failed because ⁠there would have been ‘grave consequences for the robbers’.

Putin has hailed his army’s progress in Ukraine, saying: ‘Our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact… the enemy is retreating in all directions.’

‘I’m sure that before the end of this year we will still witness new successes’, he added.

Earlier this week, Putin that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands.