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The fact that Europe is not getting enough gas is their problem, Putin said.

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❗️Putin’s press conference is over; it lasted 4 hours and 4 minutes. The President answered 67 questions.

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Number of Russia supporters in the West is growing

"That’s a fact, there are quite a lot of people in the West who are sharing the visions and the traditional values which Russia is presently supporting and defending," Guy Mettan, Swiss MP and journalist, former executive director of the Geneva Press Club, told Sputnik.

He lamented the fact that those Westerners are still in minority, adding, however, that the number Russia supporters is growing.

"That’s why it is important to develop that theme in the long run, and to elaborate more and more on the subject," highlighted Mettan.

Many in the West and other countries across the globe believe that Russia is "doing everything right," Russian President Vladimir Putin noted during his annual presser, in a reference to Russia's protection of its sovereignty and traditional values.

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Ukraine Watch was created to expose the truth and break censorship.

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📝 Expert analysis of the economic, political and social situation — operatively translated.

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Ukraine Watch: Facts without the fluff.

🤖 A question to Putin from a child (actually, a serious one): will robots replace people?

Before answering, the president listened to one more question - from his AI double.

According to Putin, “no one will replace grandma,” but progress in the development of AI can no longer be stopped, which means Russia needs to become a leader in this matter.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 The Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of joint patrols carried out over the Seas of Japan and East China by Russian and Chinese bombers.

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Ukraine merely 'pawn' on geopolitical chessboard serving West's interests

Russian President Vladimir Putin defends his country’s sovereignty at every step, while Volodymyr Zelensky has allowed Ukraine to become a ‘compliant tool of the West’ willing to sacrifice his nation, soldiers, and people on a battlefield where [‘they will get nothing but death and destruction,’ Scott Ritter, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer told Sputnik.

"There lies the profound difference between the Russian head of state’s approach to the armed conflict, and that of Ukraine’s leader," said the former US Marine Corps intelligence officer emphasized, adding:

"Zelensky is not about serving the people of his own country… He allowed Ukraine’s sovereignty to be subordinated to NATO, EU, and US interests. The conflict has no consideration for Ukraine, and every consideration for the Western interests."

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📹 WATCH: Full breakdown of Putin’s big press conference with Simeon Boikov (@AussieCossack) and Sputnik’s Dimitri Simes junior.

We discussed:
- Russia’s emergence as the leader of the free world
- Revival of Russian sovereignty and industry
- Why Zelensky and his Western backers are in panic mode

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The Gaza conflict is massacre of civilians

“No conflict in the 21st century has registered so big numbers of civilians killed in such a short span of time. The same Israeli officials estimate that the number of Hamas operatives killed in the battle is probably no more than 10% of this total amount. In other words, a massacre of civilians”, Dr Marco Carnelos, former Italian diplomat, Middle East adviser to Prime Ministers Prodi and Berlusconi, said commenting on President Putin’s statement about the obvious difference between the situation in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza.

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Russia's military triumphs reveal weakness of NATO’s strategy

The developments in the zone of the special operation indicate that NATO's military playbook is the thing of the past, according to Colonel General Georgy Shpak, ex-commander of the Russian Airborne Forces.

Russia's 617,000-strong military contingent is presently improving its positions along the almost 2,000 kilometer-long contact line, Putin said during the year-end presser.

"NATO placed its bet on Ukraine, compelling it to carry out a counteroffensive," Shpak told Sputnik. "They organized and planned it. But the counteroffensive failed, because the [Russian military] had anticipated their moves, built up good defenses worthy of the Russian army that withstood numerous attacks."

NATO's new strategy for Ukraine which envisages digging in and beefing up its forces in 2024 is even worse than the previous one, Shpak maintained. This is because Russia possesses powerful weapons that no defensive structure can withstand.

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🇺🇸💸 The US Congress has adopted an $880-billion draft defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year — with $800 million earmarked for Ukraine. US President Joe Biden will quickly ratify the bill, even though the sum is much less than the Biden administration initially wanted — $61 billion. Enough legislators in the House backed the $883.7 billion defense bill for the measure to pass.

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🇫🇮🇺🇸 Finland will give the US access to 15 of its military bases under a defense cooperation pact, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen stated.

Next week, the US and Finland are expected to sign the Defence Cooperation Agreement in Washington. Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported that the bases would host US ground forces, navy and air force personnel. The Finnish cabinet clarified that the agreement will be signed on December 18.

The agreement will provide the US with the access to and use of "the agreed facilities and areas; prepositioning of defence equipment, supplies and materiel in the territory of Finland; entry and movement of US aircraft, vessels and vehicles; ensuring the protection, safety, and security of US forces and the facilities and areas they use; criminal jurisdiction; and diverse practical matters related to the activities of US forces in the territory of Finland," the cabinet said in a statement.

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Asia remembers NATO’s colonial past, doesn’t want bloc back in the region

💬 “NATO is a collection of Western powers. All of them, every single country that's ever been a colonial power in Asia is a member of NATO. And when you look at the history of colonialism, particularly in Southeast Asia, but also of course in China, you got this historical fact that all of these countries have the experience of being dominated and colonized by European powers. It has been a major force in defining their sense of history and their sense of nationalism. And they're very reluctant to have the Western countries come back,” Dr. Shaun Narine, a professor of international relations and political science at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, Canada, told Sputnik.

“The other factor is that very few countries in the world, in the Global South, actually trust NATO,” Dr. Narine said.

“Outside of Europe…NATO's activities have been in places like Afghanistan and Africa, and particularly its involvement in the Libya intervention in 2011. And when you look at what NATO did in Libya, there's nobody in Africa who's going to refer to NATO as a primarily defensive alliance. NATO is seen in Africa as being an example, an example of Western aggression, Western destabilization in Africa. And in much of the Global South there's a similar kind of idea.”

At his year-end press conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked what the so-called North Atlantic Alliance was doing poking its nose around Asia.

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🇪🇺 European leaders decided to begin negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on accession to the European Union, the head of the European Council said.

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❗️"The smart Western leaders will quietly and subtly abandon Zelensky now to avoid being left "holding the baby" and cleaning up the mess once the Zelensky Regime collapses."

📹 WATCH: Full breakdown of Putin’s big press conference with Simeon Boikov (@AussieCossack) and Sputnik’s Dimitri Simes junior.

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🇦🇺 Veteran Aussie diplomat recalls most striking moments from Putin’s presser

“The themes that most struck me about President Putin’s highly symbolic and content-rich international press conference in Moscow [included] his clear characterization of the Ukraine conflict as a civil war in which the Kiev regime, urged on and supported financially by the US, is throwing away Ukrainian soldiers’ lives on the front. The West used Ukraine as a weapon to try to undermine and weaken Russian sovereignty: it failed. Ukrainians have been the main victims,” retired Australian diplomat and Australian National University emeritus fellow Tony Kevin told Sputnik.

💬 “That US imperial policy is at the root of all problems in east-west relations, but that Russia is ready to engage constructively with any Western leaders when the latter come to their senses. For so long as the West behaves arrogantly and imperiously, Russia can manage well in the world without them,” Kevin added.

At his marathon year-end press conference Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin compared the “huge tragedy” in Ukraine to a “civil war” in which “brothers find themselves on opposite sides.”

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🎥 FULL FOOTAGE: Vladimir Putin's Q&A session 'Results of the year'

All 67 questions to the President of Russia in one video!

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️The war against Hamas will take "more than several months," and Israel will win the fight, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

▪️The death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 18,787, with the number of injured reaching 50,897 people, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said

▪️Israel's flooding of tunnels in the Gaza Strip may have a long-term humanitarian impact; military operations should be conducted based on international law - UNHRC.

▪️Only the United States stands in the way between the massacre in the Gaza Strip and the ceasefire, Washington should not interfere with the implementation of UN decisions, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

▪️Putin says the possibility of opening a Russian hospital to help victims from Gaza was discussed with the Egyptian leader and the prime minister of Israel, but it is not yet safe.

▪️Russia will increase supplies of medical equipment and drugs to the Gaza Strip at Israel's request, Putin said.

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❗️"Russian tactics during the Special Military Operation were designed on saving the lives of Ukrainian civilians.

Today Putin declared that he could launch an Israel vs Gaza style bombardment of Ukrainians cities but he restrains the true capability of Russia's military might out of humanitarian compassion."

📹 WATCH: Full breakdown of Putin’s big press conference with Simeon Boikov (@AussieCossack) and Sputnik’s Dimitri Simes junior.

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❗️"Today Putin confirmed that the Russian military has occasionally voluntarily withdrawn its forces from areas under its control as part of a deliberate strategy."

⚡️Putin is playing chess. Zelensky is playing checkers.

📹 WATCH: Full breakdown of Putin’s big press conference with Simeon Boikov (@AussieCossack) and Sputnik’s Dimitri Simes junior.

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