Russian President Vladimir Putin once again claimed that he had no choice but to violate the 2014 and 2015 ceasefires and launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In his view, the decision to invade should have been made earlier,

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on ending the war and had no conditions for starting talks with the Ukrainian authorities.

Vladimir Putin has claimed that the war in Ukraine has made Russia "stronger", while denying that the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime has destabilized Moscow. During his traditional year-end press conference,

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russian forces were moving towards achieving their primary goals on the battlefield in Ukraine and touted what he said was the invincibility of Russia's new hypersonic missile.