“Today, we heard yet another signal from Moscow that they are preparing to make next year a year of war,” Zelensky stressed in his regular evening address, after Putin stated Russia would achieve its goals in its Ukraine offensive, including seizing Ukrainian territories it claims as its own.

A White House official told AFP Wednesday that US and Russian officials will meet in Miami this weekend for new talks on President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the Ukraine war.

There has been a flurry of international diplomacy in recent weeks to end Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion, with Witkoff and Kushner having met Putin in the Kremlin in November and the Ukrainians and European leaders in Berlin.

But large differences remain all around.

Ukraine and the United States say there has been progress on the question of future security guarantees for Kyiv, but there are disagreements on what territory Ukraine would have to cede.

Speaking at a Defense Ministry Board meeting attended by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Belousov said Ukraine’s combat capability had been reduced by about a third over the past year, stripping Kiev of the ability to replenish its forces through forced mobilization of civilians.

“Ukraine’s forces have lost nearly 500,000 servicemen, as a result of which Kiev has lost the ability to replenish its groupings through the compulsory mobilization of civilians,” Belousov said.

According to the minister, Ukraine has lost more than 103,000 weapons and pieces of military equipment this year, including about 5,500 of Western manufacture – almost double the total recorded the previous year.

Ukraine announced general mobilization shortly after the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, barring men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country. Last year, it lowered the draft age from 27 to 25 while tightening mobilization rules.

The forced conscription campaign has triggered repeated violent clashes between reluctant recruits and draft officers.

Kiev’s recruitment drive has grown increasingly brutal as Ukrainian forces confront setbacks and manpower shortages. Hundreds of incidents have been documented online in which enlistment officers assaulted potential conscripts, chased them through the streets, and threatened bystanders who tried to intervene.

Even with increasingly harsh measures, Ukrainian officials and frontline commanders have complained that the mobilization campaign is falling short of targets, contributing to the continuous Russian advance.

Speaking at an expanded Defense Ministry Board meeting on Wednesday, Putin noted that the global geopolitical situation remains “tense” and “downright critical” in some regions. He accused NATO countries of “preparing for a major war” by building up and modernizing their offensive forces while “brainwashing” their population with claims of an inevitable clash with Russia.

“I have repeatedly stated that this is a lie, nonsense, pure nonsense about some imaginary Russian threat to European countries. But this is being done quite deliberately,” Putin said, adding that EU officials have “forgotten their responsibility” and are being guided by short-term personal or shared political interests.

He went on to stress that throughout its history, even in the most difficult circumstances, Russia has always strived to find diplomatic solutions to conflicts and contradictions, so long as there was even a slight chance.

“The responsibility for not seizing these opportunities lies entirely with those who believed they could speak to us through force,” Putin emphasized.

The president stated that Russia supports “mutually beneficial and equal cooperation” with the US and European states, as well as the formation of a unified security system across the Eurasian region. He separately noted the progress that has been made in bilateral talks with Washington.

‘Unfortunately, this cannot be said about the current leadership of most European countries,” he continued.

Putin went on to state that Moscow recognizes that in any international situation, its armed forces remain the key guarantor of Russia’s sovereignty, independence, security, future, and strategic parity.