Putin vows Ukraine goals unchanged, cites diplomacy or military force

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia’s goals in Ukraine have not changed and that they will be achieved either through negotiations or further military advances if diplomatic efforts fail.

Speaking at the annual board meeting of the country’s Ministry of Defense, Putin praised Russia’s military progress and technological advancements on the battlefield as the war in Ukraine entered its fourth year.

“The objectives of the special military operation will undoubtedly be achieved,” he said, using the Kremlin’s term to refer to a full-scale invasion of Moscow in 2022.

“We would prefer to achieve this and address the root causes of the conflict through diplomatic means. However, if the other side and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive dialogue, Russia will succeed in recovering its historical lands by military means,” the Russian leader told military officials, according to a transcript of the speech released by the government.

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Putin also took aim at Kiev and its European allies for “inciting hysteria” about Moscow as the Trump administration tries to end the war.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned allies Last week it said Russia could be ready to use military force against the alliance within five years and called on members to increase defense spending and production so their armed forces have the resources to protect their homeland.

Putin referred to European leaders as “piglets” at a Defense Ministry meeting, according to translated video released by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

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Russian soldiers observe a moment of silence at the annual board meeting of the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, December 17, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The comment was part of a broader tirade against the West in which Putin accused European governments of helping Washington try to weaken and divide Russia.

“They hoped to profit from the collapse of our country. Trying to take back and take revenge on something that was lost in previous historical periods. As everyone now clearly sees, all these attempts and all these destructive plans against Russia completely failed,” Putin said.

The remarks come as U.S., European, Russian and Ukrainian officials engage in a flurry of diplomacy over possible ways to end the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his negotiating team met with Jared Kushner and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Berlin on Sunday to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, front row, from left to right and Onas Gahr, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, back row, from left To the right, they stand together in the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on December 15, 2025. (Markus Schreiber, Pool/AP)

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Witkoff and Kushner previously held After the original leaked 28-point draft came under criticism as being too positive for the Kremlin, a five-hour meeting with Putin and senior foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov was held in Moscow in early December to determine elements of the revised peace proposal.

Ushakov said that the Russian side received four documents from US ambassadors during the meeting, one of which contained 27 articles, but refused to go into detail about their content.