“We will never go back,” warns Vladimir Putin in his New Year’s speech

Vladimir Putin shows himself determined for 2024. The Russian president assured, Sunday December 31, that his country would not back down “Never” after having “firmly defended” his interests in 2023, in his New Year’s speech, without explicitly mentioning Ukraine. “We have proven time and again that we can solve the most difficult tasks and will never back down, because no force can divide us”he declared on television.

Even if Vladimir Putin did not directly mention the war in Ukraine, which began almost two years ago, he made several allusions to it, for example paying tribute to the soldiers, “our heroes”. But unlike at the end of 2022, when the president appeared flanked by soldiers in uniform, this time he proclaimed that the year 2024 would be that of “family”, in front of the traditional Kremlin background.

In 2023, “we firmly defended our national interests, our freedom and our security, our values”, he said. The president assured that Russia, which lives “a historic phase”would be “even stronger” next year. During his previous wishes, Vladimir Putin assured that the “moral and historical correctness” was “on the side” of Russia.