On Wednesday, December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech during a meeting of the Ministry of Defense. In theory, he was supposed to summarize the actions of the Russian army on the front last year, but the speech did not lack most of the president's favorite theses and thoughts on the geopolitical situation and the war in Ukraine.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Putin used the opportunity to once again blame the war on Ukraine on the administration of Joe Biden and Europe or to emphasize that Russia has never provoked conflicts and has always cared about peaceful, diplomatic solutions. They do not predict, according to the speech, any compromises, which Putin said actually directly.