Putin says the war in Ukraine will continue: Purposes Remain Same

Speaking at the annual media conference Thursday, he said his intentions remain the same and that peace will come when they are achieved.

While receiving questions from journalists, the public and even soldiers, Putin said Russia's main goals remain “denification” and “billiontarisation” Ukraine, also ensuring its neutrality.

The “will have peace when we reach our goals”, said the 71-year-old leader, who, last week, announced he will run for the fifth presidential mandate in the March elections.

As far as demilitarization is concerned, if they [Ukrains] don't want to reach agreement well, then we're forced to take other measures, including the military... Either we have an agreement, we agree on certain parameters [for the size and strength of the Ukrainian Army] ... or we resolve this by force. That's what we'll try to do”, Putin said.

Since Russia has begun its extensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has said the purpose of the operation is “demilitarisation and denotification” Ukraine's terms that Kremlin officials have used to falsely claim that Government in Kiev is controlled by Nazi sympathies.

This, despite the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish and has lost relatives in Holocaust.

Putin announced that he would run for re-election on December 8th, following a ceremony in the Kremlin, in which soldiers who fought in Ukraine were awarded the highest military honour in the country.

Russian elections are controlled by the Kremlin and are neither free nor fair. They have damaged the expulsion of opposition candidates, voter intimidation, balloting and other manipulation tools.

Putin won the right to compete in Russia's next two presidential elections after adopting several constitutional changes in 2020, which gave him the way to remain in power until 2036.

He was once prime minister, once a president since 1999.

If another full mandate serves, it will overcome Stalin's nearly 30-year rule and become Russia's longest-lived leader since Catherine the Great (1762-1796).

He is unlikely to face any challenge from his two main rivals, Alexei Navajo and Vladimir Kara-Murza. Both are in prison serving long sentences because of disagreements with the Kremlin.

The invasion of Ukraine has already been devastating to Russia in the 22nd month, has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of its soldiers, has overthrown the Russian economy and ruined Moscow's relations with the West.

Putin has made criticism of the war in Ukraine and the armed forces illegal, thus suppressing any objections.

During the conference Thursday, Putin said a new wave of military mobilization is not needed at the moment, as the “fulx of people willing to defend our country with weapons in hand is not reducing”.

For the first time since the beginning of the war, Putin appears before Western journalists