Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Putin Sounds Optimistic Tone In Annual News Conference; Putin Claims Battlefield Gains In Annual News Conference; Putin Compares Ukraine War To Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza. Aired 8:15- 8:30a ET

Aired December 14, 2023 - 08:15   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:15:00]

MAX FOSTER, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello. I'm Max Foster in London. You're watching CNN Newsroom.

We begin in Moscow where Vladimir Putin is sounding unusually optimistic about his war in Ukraine. He is fielded numerous questions about the Ukraine invasion at his annual news conference, an event that often goes on for hours. The Russian leader claims his forces are making gains on the battlefield, and insists the war will only end if Kyiv agrees to Russia's terms. He also appeared to enjoy the problems the U.S. Congress is having in getting more aid to Ukraine. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is monitoring all of this. And he hasn't done one of these for a while. So, he obviously feels confident enough to.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. He certainly does seem to feel confident that he has the energy to do that, and certainly seems to feel confident in his position as well. In fact, I've watched almost the entire four hours of that press conference, Max, and Vladimir Putin did seem very comfortable up there, especially when he was talking about the war in Ukraine and how things are going, he believes, for the Russians. He claimed that the Russians have the initiative, as he put it, in pretty much all areas of the front lines.

[08:20:00]

Of course, we know that they have been taking some seriously heavy casualties, especially in the fighting around Avdiivka. He was also asked about the Ukrainians being able to cross the Dnipro River near Kherson. He tried to downplay that, and essentially said, look, it's just a few troops that are doing that, and that is bound to fail. And you're absolutely right. He did say that Kyiv needs to surrender, or that Russia would destroy Ukraine. He said that in pretty clear terms as he was going through there. He also took reference to the current political situation in the United States and the issues in Congress about providing future military aid to Ukraine. He claimed that aid for Ukraine was running out. Let's listen it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (Translated): Today, Ukraine produces almost nothing. They're trying to preserve some things, but they produced almost nothing. They get everything, excuse the bad manners, for free. But, this freebie may end someday, and apparently it is ending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: The freebie is ending, as he put it, Vladimir Putin there. One of the other things that he also touched on, obviously, was the Russian economy, saying that it had been very strong in spite -- it's in the face of a lot of sanctions, of course, from Western countries. He said that right now the economic situation is stable, and he believes that there will be economic growth in Russia. Of course, that's something the Russians sort of have been parading for a couple of months now. So, certainly, Vladimir Putin did seem very confident as he was speaking today, Max.

One of the other things that we need to touch on as well, he was asked also about the plight of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich as well, who, of course, is inside a Russian jail in a trial right now. He said that right now there are talks going on between the United States and Russia to come to some sort of resolution. However, he also said that there needs to be a situation achieved that's mutually acceptable to both sides, to the Russian side, obviously, from his perspective. So, certainly, a little glimpse as to what is going on there. But, in general, you're absolutely right. Vladimir Putin certainly seemed very confident at ease as he was up there on that stage today, Max.

FOSTER: OK. Fred, thank you so much for that, and watching all of it.

European Union leaders, meanwhile, gathering in Brussels for a critical summit to discuss the approval of a multi-billion dollar aid package to Ukraine, and the opening of the negotiating talks with Kyiv as well to eventually grant the war-torn country full membership to the EU. But, most of the bloc's major decisions must be approved by unanimity amongst the 27 member states, and one leader fiercely opposes the EU membership talks for Ukraine and that is the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: Enlargement is not a theoretical issue. Enlargement is a merit-based, legally-detailed process, which has preconditions. We have set up seven preconditions, and even by the evaluation of the commission, three out of the seven is not fulfilled. So, there is no reason to negotiate membership of Ukraine now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Orban said he also opposes the long-term financial aid to Ukraine, a funding that could be crucial to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He so far struggled to convince U.S. Republicans to approve a multi-billion dollar military package from the U.S. CNN's Bianca Nobilo is following the summit for us. She joins us live from Brussels. Bianca, so, is Hungary the big issue here, because the other countries seem to be on the same page on Ukraine? BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, visibly, and he has already been a thorn in the side of EU leaders who want the unanimity to pass this bigger support package for Ukraine of EUR 50 billion as well as greenlighting the beginning of formal talks for Ukraine to join the European Union.

So, just to give you a sense of that, these things usually run pretty much like clockwork, but the start of the summit today was delayed because important talks behind the scene between Viktor Orban, key EU members had to happen in order to thrash out some kind of common ground. There is no confidence yet that that has occurred. And the summit was supposed to end tomorrow night on Friday, but it's -- there is talk that it might go through even till Sunday, because it's going to be so difficult to come to some kind of agreement on Ukraine.

Now, Viktor Orban cited in that soundbite that you played that he feels that the EU is fast tracking Ukraine and that it actually hasn't met some of the key criteria to start the process to become a member. However, in recent weeks, Ukraine has passed more legislation to try and prove to the European Union that it is ready to do that. One of Viktor Orban's biggest concerns was about protections of minorities, particularly Hungarian minorities within Ukraine. Zelenskyy has passed new legislation to combat that. And many publicly and also behind the scenes, Max, EU diplomats or important political figures in Europe, do speak to the fact that Viktor Orban and Hungary is the country which is often criticized by the EU or sanctioned by it for not abiding by rule of law or having issues with corruption.

[08:25:00]

And yet, Orban is saying that Ukraine isn't in the place to join the European Union or start those talks, because of those same issues. So there is a lot of frustration here. A testament to that, perhaps, is the fact that President Zelenskyy was thought -- it was considered possible that he would come to this summit, as he often does when he knows he needs support, and it's kind of an all or nothing moment. He didn't. And the consensus in Brussels is to why he didn't attend is the fact that it will have antagonized Viktor Orban and made these discussions even more difficult. So, he just addressed them by video link. And talks are ongoing but no real optimism or confidence that this is going to end particularly well for Ukraine at this stage.

FOSTER: Bianca in Brussels, thank you. We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: And on the first for Barbie director Greta Gerwig. She has been named jury president for the 2000 -- well, the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the first American female director to be chosen. Gerwig says she is stunned, thrilled and humbled to be selected.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. World Sport Amanda is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]