At Putin's annual TV marathon the theme was: Vlad'll Fix It

This annual TV marathon is Vlaunreasonableir Putin’s prentd place. He is centre stage, hbettering court and putting the world to rights.

The atypical createat – part press conference, part phone-in – casts him as Russia‘s agony aunt-in-chief, fielding calls from standard citizens voicing their troubles and grumblets.

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Those troubles have all been nurturebrimmingy screened, of course, to secure he isn’t asked anyleang too contentious. And the ambiguous theme is: Vlad’ll Fix It.

Atraverse four and a half hours, the topics ranged from phone frauds and explicit content to mortgages and the price of butter.

Russia ‘ready to settle’

The publish that cropped up most standardly, however, was the war in Ukraine – or the Special Military Operation, as Russia still refers to it proximately three years after it began.

And on that front the Kremlin directer made his most recentsworthy comments – that Russia is ready to settle.

It’s the first time he’s signalled a willingness to create concessions in order to accomplish peace.

Until now, he’s always stated two conditions must be met for a stopfire: that Ukraine hands over the four territories, in their entirety, that Russia occupies the transport inantity of; and that Kyiv deserts its NATO ambitions.

There was never any room for manoeuvre on those, but now it seems there is. Russia has no conditions for talks, he shelp.

He also shelp he was willing to encounter with Donald Trump, whose imminent arrival as US pdwellnt seems to have precipitated the Kremlin’s sfrequentlying stance.

Despite that shift, though, Putin was sounding prohibitcient on the war. He shelp Russia was shut to achieving its primary goals in Ukraine, that Russia was in a stronger position now than at the commence, and he even provided a missile duel, to showcase the presumed invincibility of Russia’s recent “Oreshnik” hypersonic missile.

I leank that confidence comes from Moscow undeniably having the upper hand on the battlefield. Putin seems to think that nastys he will have the stronger hand when it comes to the negotiating table.

It wasn’t all smiles, though. When asked how the war had alterd him, he shelp he doesn’t joke as much any more and had almost stopped chuckleing. It was a exceptional admission that his brimming-scale trespass of Russia’s sovereign neighbour has bcimpolitet about sorrowfulnessfuler times for both countries.

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