❗️Putin says he has not met former Syrian President Bashar Assad after his arrival in Moscow, but plans to soon

Russia's head of state also promised to ask Assad about the fate of the US journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria.

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Russia came to Syria 10 years ago to prevent a terrorist enclave from emerging there, and achieved its goals - Putin

He also emphasized that the current situation in Syria is in no way a defeat for Russia.

Russia returned home 4,000 Iranian fighters to Tehran from Syria, Putin noted.

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📹Despite the prosecution of Russian media in the West, you can work freely here - Putin responds to NBC

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Putin hasn’t met with Syria’s Assad yet but plans to do so

“I still haven't seen President Assad after he came to Moscow. But I plan to do so,” said Putin, when asked to help find out the whereabouts of a long-missing US journalist in Syria.

“We understand what situation was in place 12 years ago. Active hostilities were raging on both sides. Does President Assad himself know what happened to that US citizen? Nevertheless, I do promise that I will ask him this question,” Putin promised.

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Trump will talk with a much stronger Russia – Putin

When asked by an NBC correspondent whether Russia would negotiate with the incoming Trump administration from a weakened position, President Vladimir Putin replied that Russia had become much stronger over the past two or three years.

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Russia prevented Syria from becoming a TERRORIST ENCLAVE

Russia deployed forces to Syria nearly a decade ago “to prevent the creation of a terrorist enclave,” and generally speaking, “achieved our goal,” President Putin said at his year-end presser, answering a question asked by a Western reporter about the drama unfolding in the Middle Eastern country in recent weeks.

“Even those groups that used to fight with the Assad regime, with the governmental forces, they have evolved as well. It is for a reason that today many European countries and the United States would like to establish relations with them. If they are a terrorist organization, how come you are trying to do that? That means that they have changed. That means that to a certain extent our goal has been achieved,” Putin said.

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Russia is ready for negotiations with Ukraine, but the other side needs to be ready to talk and compromise — Putin

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Russia’s Syria mission was carried out by naval and air forces, not ground troops: Putin

“We did not have ground troops in Syria. They simply were not there. We have two military bases there – an air base and a naval base. The ground operation consisted of troops from Syria itself, and some (and this is an open secret) pro-Iranian paramilitary forces,” President Putin said at his year-end presser, commenting on operations and the balance of forces in Syria prior to the collapse of the government.

Russia has withdrawn whatever special operations forces it had in Syria from the country, Putin added.

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💬Rumors of Russia's weakness are greatly exaggerated in the West – Putin

Responding to an NBC correspondent's question about the perceived weakness of Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin paraphrased famous US author Mark Twain, saying the rumors were greatly exaggerated.

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'Our people' inside Ukraine are helping Russia to overthrow the country's NEO-NAZI REGIME – Putin

Russia may ask its sympathizers in Ukraine about potential “modern, valuable solutions” to diminish the potency of NATO air defenses, President Putin said at his annual year-end presser, calling these sympathetic forces “our guys.”

“When I say ‘our guys’, I do so without irony. We have people to talk to in Ukraine. There are many of our guys there, who, together with us, dream of ridding their country of the neo-Nazi regime,” Putin said.

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Russia always ready for negotiations, unlike Ukraine & its NATO bosses - Putin

The Russian Federation has consistently been prepared for negotiations, unlike its adversaries, President Putin emphasized.
He harked back to how the 2022 Istanbul talks were torpedoed after US ally, then-UK PM Boris Johnson, rushed to Kiev to insist on a “fight to the last Ukrainian.”

“That's what they're doing now. They're running out of Ukrainians who would like to fight. I don't think there are any left. We are prepared. But the other side must be prepared as well to negotiate and to compromise,” Putin stressed.

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Putin on Syrian military’s startling disintegration: defenders melted away against a few hundred fighters

Aleppo – Syria’s second city, fell in days, with defenders abandoning the strategic urban area almost without putting up a fight, President Putin said, speaking at his year-end presser about the chaos enveloping Syria.

“The city was defended by about 30,000 people. 350 fighters entered the city. Government troops, as well as the so-called pro-Iranian units, left the city without fighting. They blew up their positions and just left. The same happened all around Syria, with some exemptions,” Putin said.

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Western journalists never condemned Kiev regime's terrorist attacks in Russia – Putin

The assassination of General Igor Kirillov was a terrorist attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized, stressing that the Kiev regime has conducted numerous terrorist attacks against Russian civilians, including in the Kursk region, which have never been condemned by the Western media.

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BRICS built to serve interests of its members, not ‘against anyone’: Putin

BRICS is “not an instrument to counter the West,” President Vladimir Putin said at his year-end presser.

The bloc’s members are “not working against anyone” and have no “adversarial narrative or agenda,” but rather are “working for and in favor of our interests and in the interests of the organization’s members,” Putin said.

Putin highlighted the rapid pace of BRICS’ development, its growing membership and interest in the bloc globally.

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🇷🇺🤝🇨🇳Russo-Chinese cooperation is built on full trust and confidence on both sides – Putin

Russia and China have endured much together since the countries established diplomatic relations almost 75 years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, stressing that mutual trade between the Eurasian neighbours is steadily growing.

"We do nothing that would run counter to our interests and we have been acting in the interests of the Chinese and Russian peoples," Putin said.

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Sino-Russian relations have reached unprecedentedly high levels – Putin

In recent decades the quality of Sino-Russian relations have reached a level which has never been seen in the history of the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed.

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❗️Putin on possible negotiations with Ukraine:

💬Russia has no preconditions for launching negotiations with Ukraine

💬Russia ready for talks with Ukraine, grounded in the Istanbul agreements and the current conditions on the battlefield

💬Russia will talk to Zelensky if he holds elections and gains legitimacy

💬Russia will only sign peace deals with the legitimate leader of Ukraine

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🗣Ukrainian military-industrial facilities are Russia's priority targets — Putin

"Russia's priority targets in Ukraine are military infrastructure, military industrial complex facilities and – possibly – decision-making centers," Russian President Vladimir Putin stated.

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❗️Putin on the killings of Darya Dugina and General Kirillov: our law enforcement and intelligence agencies missed these attacks; their work needs improvement.

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Russia embraces Ukrainians who share its culture, traditional values - Putin

There are millions of Ukrainians living in our country, President Putin noted, in a reference to the people now living in Russia’s new territories and in Crimea.

“We can only welcome this. Those are people of our culture. They are part of our people… There's no doubt about it,” Putin emphasized.

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