Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to outline why the Kremlin considers Ukraine’s Westward turn an urgent security threat during his annual news conference on Thursday, which marks an opportunity for Putin to convince skeptical citizens that the situation on the border may require military action.
The stakes are especially high for Putin’s end-of-year marathon event, which can sometimes last more than four hours. It’s one of his highest-profile television appearances of the year and state television channels start a countdown to it days in advance.
While the news conference typically has a circuslike atmosphere — journalists from across the country pack a Moscow hall with signs to grab Putin’s attention so he’ll call on them for questions — it could have a more serious feel to it this year. The Kremlin has invited roughly 500 journalists from Russian and foreign media outlets.
Putin is expected to address the sweeping demands Russia issued to the United States and NATO last week that would halt any eastward expansion and effectively bar all other former Soviet republics — including Ukraine — from joining or cooperating with the military alliance. The foreign ministry took the unusual step of publishing its proposals — what Moscow refers to as “security guarantees” — and officials this week complained that the United States had yet to adequately respond to them.
