Putin says he should have launched full Ukraine invasion earlier, as he holds marathon live event

Summary

President Vladimir Putin says he should've acted earlier in Ukraine and prepared more before the full-scale invasion in February 2022
Speaking at a marathon end-of-year press conference, Putin also denies that the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is a defeat for Russia
The BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg asks Putin if he's succeeded in his goals in Ukraine - the Russian leader insists he has
Putin is attempting to deliver a carefully choreographed positive message despite Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory, our Europe editor writes

Live Reporting

Edited by Johanna Chisholm and Adam Durbin, with Steve Rosenberg reporting from the event in Moscow

What happened this week?published at 08:52 Greenwich Mean Time
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Pink and red flowers have been stuck in-between broken brickwork at the scene of the attack which killed Kirillov and his assistant
A 29-year-old man from Uzbekistan has been arrested over the killing of a senior Russian general, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant in Moscow.
An explosive device hidden in an electric scooter was detonated remotely on Tuesday, authorities say, killing Lt Gen Igor Kirillov.
Ukraine claimed it was behind the attack, adding that Kirillov, 54, was "a legitimate target" who had carried out war crimes. The day before, Ukraine charged the Russian general in absentia, saying he was "responsible for the mass use of banned chemical weapons".
Russia's Federal Security Services (FSB) has published a video of the suspect's interrogation.
In it, a dark-haired man in handcuffs with what appears to be a visible rip in his coat, is heard saying in Russian that he was offered a reward and a European passport in exchange for killing Kirillov.
It is unclear whether the suspect's confession was made under duress.
Zelensky meets with EU leaders as world prepares for change in US administrationpublished at 08:43 Greenwich Mean Time
Image source, EPA
Several time zones away, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels today which is also being attended by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.
In the final meeting of the European Council before US President-Elect Donald Trump returns to office, it's expected that talks will focus on how best to prepare Kyiv for his second term.
Last night Zelensky met with several leaders and Nato chief Mark Rutte. He says he wants to use the summit in Brussels to talk about "security guarantees for Ukraine, for today and for tomorrow" and called for more weapons and air defences.
It comes as the UK's Ministry of Defence says it is considering sending British troops to Ukraine to help train the country's armed forces.
Will Putin try to send a message to the incoming US administration?published at 08:25 Greenwich Mean Time
Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor
Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Once there were two. Now just one.
In the past, Vladimir Putin used to hold two marathon live TV events each year: A phone-in and an end-of-year press conference (each lasting more than three hours).
The two formats have now been merged into a single show called Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin. Last year’s edition went on for more than four hours. It’s hard to miss: the programme is broadcast on all the main federal TV channels.
For days now, Russian viewers have been sending in questions for the Kremlin leader, the subject matter ranging from domestic issues - like rising prices and health care - to global affairs.
In what is expected to be a carefully choreographed event, there will be live link-ups with different parts of the country; Russian journalists and some international media (including, hopefully, the BBC) will be in the hall.
Expect to hear a lot about what the Kremlin is still calling its "special military operation" (Russia’s war in Ukraine).
With a month to go before Donald Trump’s return to the White House, will Vladimir Putin use the event to send a message to the incoming US administration?
And will he say anything at all about the fall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, formerly his closest ally in the Middle East?
The Kremlin leader has so far made no public comment about events in Syria.
Domestic economy overshadows international crises for Russianspublished at 08:14 Greenwich Mean Time
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor
Image source, Pool/AFP
Image caption,
Putin inspects a tank factory earlier this year in the Urals
State-run TV channels are all trumpeting the claim that Russians have made two million calls, text messages and appeals on social media to get their questions to Vladimir Putin today.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says any questions they ask about the "special military operation" - Russia's term for its full-scale war in Ukraine - will be "seriously analysed".
But it's not just the war that is worrying Russians, because the economy is overheating and in simple terms the price of butter has gone up by as much as a third this year.
Inflation has hit 9.14% and Russia's central bank may tomorrow have to increase interest rates above the current level of 21%.
A big part of the problem is that Putin has put Russia's economy on to a war footing. Next year defence spending will hit its highest level since the Cold War - accounting for 32% of all budget spending. That equates to 6.2% of Russia's economic output.
More is going on in the military than health, education and social security. So watch out for any questions that get through on how Russians are coping when such a big slice of their taxes is being spent on the war.
Putin will aim to remind Russia who's in charge in marathon speechpublished at 07:56 Greenwich Mean Time
Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor
In a country like Russia where the political system is built around one man - Vladimir Putin - the Kremlin leader’s marathon end-of-year television appearance is more than just a TV show.
It’s a key platform for portraying himself as a cross between "father of the nation" and "the good tsar" - reminding the Russian public who’s in charge and creating the impression that he can solve their everyday problems.
Got a hole in your roof? Putin will fix it. Worried about rising prices? Putin will take action.
You can tell the Kremlin treats this as an important event: State TV’s rolling news channel has an on-screen countdown to the start of the programme, plus a graphic with a running total of questions phoned-in.
As for the news conference portion, there’s no guarantee we’ll have an opportunity to ask Vladimir Putin a question. Even if the programme lasts more than four hours like it did last year.
Putin to address Russians in end-of-year speechpublished at 07:51 Greenwich Mean Time
Johanna Chisholm
Live page editor
It’s approaching 11:00 in Moscow and we’re an hour away from hearing Russian President Vladimir Putin address the nation in his annual end-of-the-year speech.
The Kremlin leader is expected to also take questions from Russians – some of whom have already been sending in their queries from the 11 time zones that span the country.
As our Russia correspondent will explain in more detail in our next post, this kind of an event requires a lot of co-ordination to pull off.
Outside of domestic concerns, we’re also anticipating Putin will address his country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
We’ll be listening out for any updates on that, as well as any other key lines from his speech. You can also follow a live translation of Putin’s address from 09:00 GMT by pressing watch liveabove.