At the marathon press conference, Putin said that he is ready to meet with Trump and is open to negotiations regarding Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has yet to meet Syria’s exiled leader Bashar al-Assad – although he personally made the decision to grant asylum to the dictator and his family as the longtime Syrian dictator fled the country after his regime collapsed.

He said this during the annual press conference and question-and-answer session while answering the questions of journalists in the audience and Russian citizens who submitted their questionnaires ahead of time.

Topics ranged from Syria, Ukraine, Russia’s economy and Putin’s relationship with US President-elect Donald Trump, all part of a carefully choreographed performance spanning more than four hours.

Putin, who said that he has not spoken to Trump for four years, said that he is open to a meeting with the new US president, who has repeatedly promised to quickly end the war in Ukraine after taking office on January 20.

While many of the audience’s questions came from reporters on Russian state media, NBC’s Keir Simmons asked Putin if he was willing to compromise on Ukraine — a question the Russian president did not fully answer.

“We are ready,” Putin said without giving any specific information. “We just need the other side to be ready. For negotiations and compromises.”

The Kremlin has repeatedly said that it will not enter into negotiations with Ukraine until it abandons its ambitions to join NATO and withdraw its troops from the territories currently under the control of Russian troops.

Kursk

Putin was also asked about Russia’s battle to retake several hundred square kilometers of Kursk Oblast, which Ukraine still controls after lightning struck western Russia in August.

According to him, Russian troops are fighting to retake the city of Kursk, but there is no exact date when they will “liberate” it.

“The situation (at the front) is changing dramatically. There is movement every day along the entire front line,” he said.

He noted that the campaign against Ukraine should have started before February 2022, saying that Russia “should have systematically prepared for it”.

While he praised the heroic efforts of Russian soldiers, he did not mention the thousands of North Korean soldiers who he says are fighting alongside the Russians in Ukraine and the United States.

At least 100 of them were killed, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.

Russian state media said two million Russian citizens asked questions about the living wage, mortgage rates and what Russia still calls a “special military operation” ahead of Putin’s press conference.

Economy

It was about the first question Russian economygiven the rising rate of inflation caused by the country’s remittances to the war effort. There are concerns about rising prices of food and food products across the country.

Putin acknowledged that inflation above nine percent was a “disturbing” figure, but said the government’s measures to cool the economy were working. According to him, economic growth is expected to be about four percent this year and slow down in 2025.

“I think next year (the growth rate) should be around 2-2.5 percent to maintain macroeconomic indicators, kind of a soft landing,” he said.

Syria

Putin was asked about Russia’s two large military bases in Syria, the Hmeimim airbase and the naval base in the port of Tartus.

Satellite images It shows that Russia is in the process of transferring some military equipment, but Putin said that Russia has offered its “partners” to use the airbase for humanitarian purposes.

The future of an air base used to carry out strikes in support of Assad in Syria is in question as the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, seized control of Damascus and ousted the Assad government from Russia. supported the years.

Speaking about the bases, Putin said, “On the whole, we achieved our goal.” “We are in contact with all groups monitoring the situation there.

He also condemned Israel’s seizure of territory in the country and said he believed Israel had no intention of withdrawing its troops from Syria.

US journalist Austin Tice

During the press conference, Simmons asked Putin if he would talk to Assad about Austin Tice, the missing American journalist who was captured during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012.

Putin replied that Tice disappeared 12 years ago during the civil war, but later said he would ask Assad about the American when the two spoke.

Tice, a former US Marine, was one of the first US journalists to travel to Syria after the war began.

US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that the government believed Tice was still alive. There was hope that Tice would be found among the thousands released from Damascus prisons.