Putin says no more wars if West respects Russia
He again accused Western leaders of breaking promises made to the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there would be no further wars after Ukraine if Western countries treat Russia with respect and acknowledge its security interests, dismissing claims that Moscow plans to attack Europe as "nonsense".
Speaking during his annual televised "Direct Line" question-and-answer marathon on Friday (20 December), Putin told the BBC that Russia would not launch any new military operations if the West respected Russian interests and stopped what he described as deception over Nato's eastward expansion. He again accused Western leaders of breaking promises made to the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, a claim previously denied by the late Mikhail Gorbachev.
Putin said Russia was ready to work with Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom as equals and expressed willingness to end the war in Ukraine, provided Russia's long-term security was guaranteed. However, he reiterated demands previously outlined in June, including Ukraine withdrawing forces from four partially occupied regions and abandoning its bid to join Nato.
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The nearly four-and-a-half-hour event, broadcast live from Moscow, combined questions from the public and journalists, with organisers claiming more than three million submissions. While the programme was largely choreographed, some critical comments about rising prices, internet outages and public services were shown on screen.
Putin also addressed economic challenges, including inflation and a VAT increase set to take effect in January, as Russia's central bank announced a cut in interest rates to 16%.
Hours after the broadcast, Ukrainian officials reported that a Russian missile strike in the southern Odesa region killed seven people and injured 15 others. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin maintained that Russian forces were advancing on the battlefield and rejected Western intelligence warnings that Moscow could attack Nato countries in the coming years. He insisted that responsibility for prolonging the conflict lay with Kyiv and its Western backers, while praising US President Donald Trump's efforts to broker peace.
