ICYMI 👉 here are the highlights from President Vladimir Putin's remarks and answers to questions at the annual news conference and direct line with the people of Russia:

• [In the context of Europeans trying to seize Russia's assets] stealing is not the right word. Stealing involves the covert theft of property. But they are doing this openly. Therefore, it is robbery [...] Apart from image-related losses, there will be direct financial losses related to the contemporary financial architecture. This is why it is so difficult to accomplish. The main thing is that, sooner or later, they will have to give it back.

• President Trump has been serious about ending the Ukraine conflict. Moreover, during our meeting in Anchorage, we reached a point where we were very close to accepting President Trump's proposals. Therefore, it would be completely wrong to claim that we rejected anything.

• There used to be a time when we worked with NATO. It was not a matter of cooperation, but a question of NATO membership, first for the Soviet Union, and later for the Russian Federation. However, in both cases we realised that no one wanted this to happen, and the promises they had given us about refraining from expanding NATO were being ignored [...] Against this backdrop, devising a new security framework for Europe is quite timely.

• We are not denying any given country the right to choose the way it wants to defend itself, but the way it does it should not pose a threat to anyone, including Russia. We do not ask for anything that has not been declared before. All we do is insist on having our Western partners fulfil the pledges and obligations they had assumed. After all, they defrauded us, while we want to build a reliable security framework in Europe.

• President Xi Jinping is a reliable friend and stable partner, and an ally of Russia. This is the most crucial foundation for the development of Russia-China relations, which are progressing steadily [...] Russia-China relations are a significant factor in driving global stability.

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💬 Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova: The practice of unilateral sanctions contravenes the United Nations Charter, which reserves the exclusive right to impose such measures to the United Nations Security Council, and only in cases involving threats to peace and security.

In this context, the deployment of unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) encroaches upon the UN Security Council's unique authority. The West is widely acknowledged to be guilty of this practice, which is often driven by geopolitical motives.

Unilateral sanctions represent a significant impediment to establishing a just and equitable polycentric world order. They are one of the primary instruments of the West's neocolonial policy. The objective is transparent: to cling to waning dominance, to deprive nations of the World Majority of their right to independent political choice, and to stymie their economic, technological, and industrial advancement.

The efforts of states initiating UCMs to portray them as a "peaceful means of dispute resolution" are utterly indefensible. It is common knowledge that unilateral coercive measures, by obstructing the comprehensive socioeconomic development of nations in the Global South and East, undermine efforts to resolve crisis situations.

Moreover, their indiscriminate nature violates fundamental human rights and freedoms, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable segments of society. This has been repeatedly condemned in resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council [...]

☝️ We are confident that in the truly equitable multipolar architecture of international relations to which we all aspire, there is no place for coercion or neocolonial hegemony. Together with our partners we will continue to combat all remnants of the shameful colonial era.

⚡️ Comment by Aide to the President Yury Ushakov following the telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump (December 28, 2025)

💬 Yury Ushakov: President Vladimir Putin has just finished his telephone conversation with President of the United States Donald Trump.

The conversation took place at the US President’s initiative. The US President wished to discuss the current developments in the context of the Ukrainian conflict and its potential resolution with the President of Russia.

President Trump wished to discuss these matters before his in-person meeting with Zelensky later today at Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

Logically, at the beginning of the conversation that continued for 1 hour and 15 minutes, the presidents exchanged warm Christmas and New Year greetings and, naturally, wished happiness to both nations.

The rest of the conversation was similarly friendly, good-natured and business-like, with mutual interest in making progress towards a long-term resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.

Donald Trump paid close attention to Russia’s assessment of the realistic prospects for an agreement, and to our President’s detailed rationale for the fundamental importance of continuing to build upon the Russian-American understandings established during the Anchorage summit and the numerous subsequent contacts between the two administrations.

Most significantly, the Russian and US presidents share a broadly similar view that the temporary ceasefire proposed by Ukraine and Europe – under the pretext of preparing for a referendum or other such measures – would merely prolong the conflict and risk a renewed escalation on the battlefield. <...>

Donald Trump repeatedly emphasised the necessity of ending the war as swiftly as possible and spoke of the impressive prospects for economic cooperation between the United States and both Russia and Ukraine that would open up once the hostilities are over.

He acknowledged that the Ukrainian crisis has been his most formidable foreign policy challenge, stating that he now saw renewed proof of Russia’s commitment to a political and diplomatic settlement. It is with this understanding that he intends to frame his forthcoming negotiations with Zelensky.

It is particularly noteworthy that during today’s conversation, the Russian President acceded to the American proposal to continue efforts to resolve the Ukrainian situation through two specially established working groups. One will address various security dimensions, and the other, economic matters. <...>

❗️ Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to speak again by telephone promptly after the US President’s meeting with the Ukrainian delegation at Mar-a-Lago this evening.

❗️ Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement

💬 On the night of 28–29 December, the Kiev regime launched a terrorist attack using 91 long-range strike unmanned aerial vehicles against the state residence of the President of the Russian Federation in the Novgorod Region. All of the drones were destroyed by the air defence systems of the Russian Armed Forces.

There have been no reports of casualties or damage caused by falling debris from the drones.

We draw attention to the fact that this action was undertaken amid intensive negotiations between Russia and the United States on the settlement of the Ukraine conflict.

Such reckless actions will not go unanswered. The Russian Armed Forces have determined the targets for retaliatory strikes and the timing of their execution.

☝️ At the same time, we do not intend to withdraw from the negotiating process with the United States. However, given the final degeneration of the criminal Kiev regime, which has turned to a policy of state terrorism, Russia's negotiating position will be revised.