What Russian President Putin said at end-of-year press conference

MOSCOW, Dec 19 - Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual end-of-year press conference on Friday.

Below are some of his comments. He spoke in Russian and his words were translated by Reuters.

ON UKRAINE PEACE TALKS

"So far, we don't really see such readiness (from Ukraine) ... But still we see ... certain signals, including from the Kyiv regime, that they are ready to engage in some kind of dialogue. The only thing I want to say is that we have always ‍said this: we ​are ready and willing to end this conflict peacefully, based on the principles I outlined last June (2024) at the Russian Ministry of Foreign ‍Affairs, and by addressing the root causes that led to this crisis."

ON THE SITUATION AT THE FRONT

"In general, immediately after our troops drove the enemy from the Kursk region, the initiative, the strategic initiative, passed entirely into the hands of the Russian ​armed forces. What does ​this mean? It means that our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact, in some places faster, in others more slowly, but in all directions, the enemy is retreating."

ON EUROPEAN EFFORTS TO SEIZE RUSSIAN ASSETS

"Theft is not the appropriate term. Theft is the clandestine appropriation of property, but in our country, they're trying to do it openly. It's daylight robbery. Why can't this robbery be carried out? Because ‍the consequences could be grave for the robbers."

"This isn't just a blow to their image; it's an undermining of trust in the euro zone, and the fact that many countries, not just Russia, but primarily oil-producing ​countries, store their gold and foreign exchange reserves in the euro zone. Once this starts, it ⁠can be replicated under various pretexts..."

"Besides the image loss, there could be direct losses related to the fundamental foundations of the modern financial world order, which is why it's difficult. And most importantly, no matter what they steal, and no matter how they do it, they'll have to give it back eventually. But above all else, we will defend our interests, primarily in the courts. We will try to find a jurisdiction that will be independent of political decisions."

ON THE ECONOMY AND BUDGET

"GDP growth is 1% ... ​this is a deliberate move by the government, the central bank, and the entire country's leadership, related to inflation targeting. It should be noted that, overall, this objective is being met, as the goal was set to reduce inflation to at least 6%, ‌but by the end of the year, it will likely be below 6%—5.7-5.8%. However, the ​slowdown in economic growth is a deliberate step, the price paid for maintaining the quality of the economy and macroeconomic indicators."

"We are managing to maintain a good rate of real wage growth. It's not as high as last year, but still ... growth will be 4.5%."

"The federal budget deficit is 2.6% of GDP, but next year we expect it to be 1.6% of GDP and should be no more than 1.5% of GDP over the next three years. This is a good indicator, considering that our public debt remains very low, one of the lowest among developed economies."

ON PLANNED VALUE-ADDED TAX RISE:

"It was decided that the most appropriate, honest and transparent way to address the challenges we face, including in the financial sphere, is to increase VAT."

"Our goals are simple ... achieving a balanced budget. And overall, this has been achieved, as I've already mentioned, in part thanks to this decision."

ON CENTRAL BANK DECISION TO CUT KEY INTEREST ‍RATE:

"By law, the Bank of Russia operates independently. And I try not to interfere with their decisions and try to protect them from any outside influence or pressure. Overall, the Bank of Russia ​is not only coping, it's acting quite responsibly."

"And this gap between actual inflation and the key rate is one of the criticisms levelled at the Central Bank. What's the problem? There are, in fact, many, but one of the problems is ... the decline ​in investment activity ... the number of loans issued is barely decreasing. It's decreasing, but only slightly. And this makes it necessary for the Bank of ‌Russia to act with extreme caution, to prevent a surge in inflation and to avoid the need to take any countermeasures later."

"Is this half-percentage-point reduction sufficient or not? I won't offer any assessments now. At the expert level, I'm sure we have many good specialists. People will make the appropriate assessments, and there will ‌be a reaction from the real economy as well." REUTERS