During his meticulously planned annual press event, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian troops have “completely taken the strategic initiative” and are poised to achieve further advancements by the end of the year.

When the conflict first erupted in 2022, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled an assault from Russia’s superior and better-equipped military, preventing the capture of Kyiv.

However, the conflict soon evolved into a series of grueling skirmishes, with Russian forces making gradual, albeit steady, progress over time. Putin often highlights these gains, despite them not being the swift victories that some had anticipated.

“Our forces are advancing along the entire front line,” Putin stated during the live press conference, which is paired with a nationwide call-in segment allowing Russians to pose questions to their leader. “While progress varies, the enemy is retreating everywhere.”

Having led Russia for 25 years, Putin uses this annual event as a platform to reinforce his authority and share his perspectives on both national and international issues.

This year, the conference occurred amidst a proposed peace plan for Ukraine from U.S. President Donald Trump. However, despite significant diplomatic efforts, Washington’s initiative has faced starkly opposing positions from both Moscow and Kyiv.

While the event has previously focused heavily on domestic questions — and has offered Putin a chance to expound on topics from the price of eggs to water cuts — Ukraine has dominated so far this year. Since it is highly choreographed, that could reflect the Kremlin’s desire to assuage the public after nearly four years of fighting.

Russian demands remain unchanged

Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the Kremlin’s tough conditions for a deal.

The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these demands.

The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join the Western NATO military alliance and warned that it wouldn’t accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and would view them as “legitimate target.”

Putin also has repeatedly said that Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the US and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to alliance members. But at the same time, he has emphasised that Ukraine believes NATO membership remains the best security guarantee.

″The United States don’t see us in NATO, for now,” Zelenskyy said this week. “Politicians change.”

Putin warns any seizure of Russian assets will backfire

As it faces grinding Russian advances across the front line and relentless attacks on its energy facilities, Ukraine is in on the verge of bankruptcy — and it desperately needs more cash from its Western allies.

On Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide a massive interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.

The leaders tried to reassure Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets.

Putin commented that using the Russian assets to help Kyiv would have amounted to “robbery”, adding that the move would have spooked investors, “dealing not only an image blow but undermining confidence in the eurozone.”

Putin says troop numbers are strong

Putin told the audience that the flow of volunteer soldiers has remained strong, topping 400,000 this year. It was not possible to independently verify that claim since little is known about the recruitment effort.

But the government offers relatively high pay and extensive benefits that have helped swell troop ranks. The Kremlin says that it exclusively relies on volunteers to fight in Ukraine, but some media reports and rights groups have said that military officers often coerce conscripts into signing military contracts.

Asked by a soldier’s widow about the slowness in paying out a pension, Putin apologised and vowed that the issue would be quickly solved — an exchange typical of the annual event, which the Russian leader often uses to show his command of a wide array of subjects and his ability to solve problems.