"I should have invaded Ukraine earlier" (Putin)
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said in his annual address to Russian television that he was ready to continue the war in Ukraine in 2025, for which he claimed he had the best-prepared army in the world.
He also denied that the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was a strategic defeat for Russia. "Russia has become much stronger in the last two or three years. Because we're becoming a truly sovereign country. We're not dependent on almost anyone, the combat capability of our armed forces is the highest in the world," he said at the marathon annual news conference, which lasted four and a half hours.
In a candid confession tinged with cynicism, Mr Putin acknowledged that the war had taken away his smile: "I almost stopped laughing."
He also refused to predict when the military campaign in the neighboring country, during which the Russian army suffered more than 700,000 casualties, would end, but would have the initiative on almost the entire front, including in the Donbas.
He also expressed regret for not having invaded Ukraine earlier.
"The fighting is complicated, predicting the future is difficult and doesn't make sense," said the Kremlin leader, who used the first minutes of his speech to pose with a banner given to him by one of the airborne brigades fighting in Ukraine.
(MH with AmBar/Source: Agency/Photo: DPA/Picvario/Komsomolskaya Pravda)