Moscow, Dec 19 (AP) President Vladimir Putin emphasised Friday that Moscow's troops were advancing across the battlefield in Ukraine and voiced confidence the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv doesn't agree to Russia's conditions in peace talks.

Speaking at his tightly orchestrated annual news conference that lasted over four hours, Putin declared that Russian forces have “fully seized strategic initiative” and would make more gains by year's end.

In the early days of the conflict in 2022, Ukraine's forces thwarted an attempt by Russia's larger, better-equipped army, to capture the capital of Kyiv.

But the fighting soon settled into grinding battles, and Moscow's troops have made slow and steady progress over the years. Putin frequently touts this progress — even though it's not the lightning advance many expected.

“Our troops are advancing all across the line of contact, faster in some areas or slower in some others, but the enemy is retreating in all sectors,” Putin said at the live news conference, which is combined with a nationwide call-in show that offers Russians across the country the opportunity to ask questions of their leader.

Putin, 73, has ruled the country for 25 years and uses the event to cement his power and air his views on domestic and global affairs.

This year, the news conference took place against the backdrop of a peace plan in Ukraine put forward by US President Donald Trump. Despite the extensive diplomatic push, Washington's efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

While the event has previously focused heavily on domestic questions — and has offered Putin a chance to expound on topics from the price of eggs to water cuts — Ukraine dominated it this year. Since it is highly choreographed, that could reflect the Kremlin's desire to assuage the public after nearly four years of fighting.

Putin reaffirmed that Moscow was ready for a peaceful settlement that would address the “root causes” of the conflict, a reference to the Kremlin's tough conditions for a deal.

The Russian leader wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory. He has also insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow's forces haven't captured yet. Kyiv has publicly rejected all these demands.

The Kremlin has also insisted that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and warned that it wouldn't accept the deployment of any troops from members of the military alliance members and would view them as “legitimate target”.

Putin also has repeatedly said Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language — demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine's bid to join NATO if the US and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to alliance members. But at the same time, he has emphasised that Ukraine believes NATO membership remains the best security guarantee.

"The United States don't see us in NATO, for now," Zelenskyy said this week. “Politicians change.” Putin rebuffed Western claims about purported Russian plans to attack European nations as “sheer nonsense” aimed at deflecting public attention from domestic problems.

He particularly singled out NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for his statements about the Kremlin's aggressive intentions, pointing out Trump's recently published national security strategy that doesn't name Russia as a direct adversary.

“How can you prepare NATO for a war with Russia if the main member of NATO doesn't consider us as an enemy?” Putin said.

He alleged that European elites “impudently” backed Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and now hope the US political landscape will change after the midterm elections to Congress, helping raise pressure on the White House.

As it faces grinding Russian advances across the front line and relentless attacks on its energy facilities, Ukraine is on the verge of bankruptcy — and it desperately needs more cash from its Western allies.

On Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide a massive interest-free loan, but they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds.

The leaders tried to reassure Belgium, where most of the frozen assets are held, that they would protect it from any retaliation from Moscow if it backed the plan, but the leaders eventually opted to borrow the money on capital markets.

Putin said using Russian assets to help Kyiv would have amounted to “robbery,” adding that the move would have spooked investors, “dealing not only an image blow but undermining confidence in the eurozone.” Putin told the audience the flow of volunteer soldiers has remained strong, topping 400,000 this year. It was not possible to independently verify that claim since little is known about the recruitment effort.

But the government offers relatively high pay and extensive benefits that have helped swell troop ranks. The Kremlin says that it exclusively relies on volunteers to fight in Ukraine, but some media reports and rights groups have said that military officers often coerce conscripts into signing military contracts.

Asked by a soldier's widow about the slowness in paying out a pension, Putin apologised and vowed that the issue would be quickly solved — an exchange typical of the annual event, which the Russian leader often uses to show his command of a wide array of subjects and his ability to solve problems.

The news conference featured questions from journalists in the Gostinny Dvor amphitheatre as well as via video link from across the country. One young man in a red bow tie who held a placard saying he wanted to get married used his question to Putin to propose to his girlfriend. (AP) SCY SCY