Russian President Putin promises victory in the war while the West doubts Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin said Russia remains determined to achieve its military objectives in Ukraine as divisions over US and European aid threaten to undermine Kiev's ability to fend off the invasion.

“There will be peace if we achieve our goals,” Putin said at his marathon televised news conference on Thursday. “They are not changing,” he said, repeating the claim that the unprovoked attack was carried out to secure the “denazification, demilitarization of Ukraine and its neutral status.”

Putin is holding the press conference for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Despite catastrophic Russian troop losses that US intelligence estimated this week at 315,000 dead and wounded, Putin still enjoys broad public support for the war he intended to achieve victory in a matter of days and which is now entering its 22nd month.

After ordering an unpopular mobilization of 300,000 reservists last year, Putin ruled out a repeat of the call for now. In response to a question from a Russian journalist, the president said that so far 486,000 people had signed contracts to join the military, exceeding the government's target, and that this number, together with volunteers, was near would rise to half a million by the end of the year. “Why do we need a mobilization? That is not necessary,” he said.

The Kremlin's longest-serving leader since Josef Stalin announced last week that he will run for a fifth term as president in March elections to extend his rule until 2030. With opponents in prison or in exile amid the toughest actions of the Kremlin in decades, Putin is confident of winning the tightly controlled vote. Officials want to portray the election as a show of support for the war he has framed as a confrontation with the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.

Russia is ready to restore “full relations” with the US, although the time is not yet ripe for this, Putin said. “But we are ready.” He revealed that Russia and the US are in “ongoing” dialogue over a possible prisoner swap deal, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.