Putin tells Russians the war in Ukraine will go on unless Kyiv does a deal

Moscow: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia would press on with its war in Ukraine unless Kyiv did a deal that took Moscow's security concerns into account, adding that the goals of the "special military operation" would in any case be met.

Fielding questions from the public and the media at an event dominated by the war, Putin - who has announced he will seek another six-year presidential term in March - said his original goals in Ukraine had not changed and that Russian forces were improving their position along most of the front line.

Russia's core goals remain "de-Nazification", "de-militarisation" and securing Ukraine's neutrality, the 71-year-old veteran leader said.

"There will be peace when we achieve our goals," he said.

"As for de-militarisation, if they (the Ukrainians) don't want to come to an agreement - well, then we are forced to take other measures, including military ones.

"Either we get an agreement, agree on certain parameters (on the size and strength of Ukraine's military)... or we solve this by force. This is what we will strive for."

Putin has cast himself as the right man to keep leading Russia through a conflict he sees as existential for his country's survival but which Kyiv and its Western allies view as an unprovoked colonial-style land grab.

At one point in Thursday's marathon press conference, he took questions from Russian forces fighting near the frontline, with the sound of gunfire echoing in the background.

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Putin said he had detected signs that Western enthusiasm for providing Ukraine with military and financial aid - something he called "free stuff" that could run out - was waning, but that he believed Kyiv would keep getting help for now.

Putin reiterated his position that NATO's eastern expansion towards Russia's borders - including Ukraine's stated desire to join the Western military alliance - was the fundamental cause of the conflict.

"The unbridled desire to creep towards our borders, taking Ukraine into NATO, all this led to this tragedy... They forced us into these actions," he said.

"When internal changes happen (in the United States), when they start respecting other people... when they start looking for compromise instead of trying to resolve their issues with sanctions and military intervention, then the fundamental conditions will be in place to restore fully-fledged relations."

Putin also compared Russia's war in Ukraine to Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, saying the two conflicts were very different and that Gaza had become a graveyard for Palestinian children.

Russia says its air strikes do not deliberately target civilians but U.N. officials say more than 10,000 Ukrainians have been killed and over 18,000 injured since Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Putin ruled out a further wave of military mobilisation at home, adding that Russia currently had 617,000 Russian troops fighting in battle zones across Ukraine.

"The flow of men ready to defend our homeland... is not decreasing... There is no need for mobilisation as of today," he said.