Putin ready to meet Trump 'anytime' to talk Ukraine deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he was ready for talks "anytime" with US President-elect Donald Trump, who has touted his ability to strike a Ukraine peace deal within hours of coming to office.

Trump, who will return to the White House in January, has stoked fears in Kyiv that he could force Ukraine to accept peace on terms favorable to Moscow.

Holding his annual end-of-year press conference, the Kremlin leader said his troops held the upper hand across the battlefield, but was forced to admit he does not know when Russia will take back the western Kursk region where Ukrainian troops launched an incursion in August.

The traditional annual question and answer sessions, often lasting hours, are largely a televised show while also being a rare setting in which he is put on the spot and answers some uncomfortable questions.

Asked about Trump's overtures regarding a possible peace deal, Putin said he would welcome a meeting with the incoming Republican.

"I don't know when I'm going to see him. He isn't saying anything about it. I haven't talked to him in more than four years. I am ready for it, of course. Any time," Putin said.

"If we ever have a meeting with President-elect Trump, I am sure we'll have a lot to talk about," he said, adding that Russia was ready for "negotiations and compromises".

The Kremlin recently welcomed Trump's sharp criticism of President Joe Biden's decision to allow Kyiv to use US-supplied missiles to strike Russian territory -- a major escalation in the nearly three-year conflict.

Kursk offensive

Russia's troops have been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months, with Putin repeatedly touting their prowess on the battlefield.

"We are moving towards resolving the primary aims that we set at the start of the special military operation," Putin said, using Russia's term for the conflict.

"Our guys are fighting heroically. The capabilities of the armed forces are growing."

Moscow's army in November advanced at its fastest pace in east Ukraine since the first month of its 2022 attack.

But asked by a woman from the Kursk region when residents will be able to return to their homes there, after thousands were evacuated from frontline areas amid the Ukrainian assault, Putin said he could not name a date.

"We will absolutely kick them out. Absolutely. It can't be any other way. But the question of a specific date, I'm sorry, I cannot say right now," he admitted.

Putin, 72, was also pressed on economic headwinds facing Russia -- the fallout from a huge ramp up in military spending and deep labor shortages caused by the conflict.

He insisted that the situation is "stable, despite external threats", citing low unemployment and industrial growth.

Asked about soaring inflation, Putin said that "inflation is a worrying signal," and that price rises for foods such as butter and meat are "unpleasant".

He acknowledged that Western sanctions were also a factor -- "while they do not have key significance" -- and criticized the central bank saying it should have taken measures beyond raising rates to lower inflation.

Oreshnik 'duel'

Putin appeared to repeat his threat to strike Kyiv with Russia's new hypersonic ballistic missile, dubbed Oreshnik.

Asked by a military journalist if the weapon had any flaws, Putin suggested a "hi-tech duel" between the West and Russia to test his claims that it is impervious to air defenses.

"Let them set some target to be hit, let's say in Kyiv. They will concentrate there all their air defenses. And we will launch an Oreshnik strike there and see what happens," Putin proposed.

Putin also called the killing of a senior Russian army general in a brazen assassination in Moscow two days earlier "terrorism", in his first comments on the attack.

Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military's chemical weapons unit, was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter outside a residential block in Moscow, the boldest assassination claimed by Kyiv since the start of the conflict.

Syria

In his first public comments since the fall of ex-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Putin rejected claims his toppling was a "defeat" for Russia.

"You want to present what is happening in Syria as a defeat for Russia," Putin said in response to a question from a journalist. "I assure you it is not... we have achieved our goals."

Putin said he has not yet met Assad, who fled to Moscow as rebels closed in on Damascus, but plans to soon.