Russia

Dec 22 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wants an end to the war in Ukraine and that this would inevitably involve a diplomatic solution.

Putin made the comments a day after U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the White House and promised him continued and unwavering U.S. support.

"Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war," Putin said. "We will strive for an end to this, and the sooner the better, of course."

LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - A St Petersburg politician has asked prosecutors to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin for using the word "war" to describe the conflict in Ukraine, accusing the Kremlin chief of breaking his own law.

Putin has for months described his invasion as a "special military operation". He signed laws in March that prescribe steep fines and jail terms for discrediting or spreading "deliberately false information" about the armed forces, putting people at risk of prosecution if they call the war by its name.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: India welcomes the growth of trade turnover with Russia, though it wants it to become more balanced, India’s Ambassador to Moscow Pavan Kapoor told a forum on Thursday.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has inspected the Russian armed forces’ units stationed in the special military operation zone, the ministry told reporters on Thursday.

"Sergey Shoigu checked the conditions of deployment of personnel and military equipment in the temporary deployment sites of military units. In talking with unit commanders, Sergey Shoigu paid special attention to the provision of comprehensive support for the troops in the field, who are involved in the special operation," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin presented him with the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday said Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky traveled to the US to get more financial and military assistance from Washington.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Russia's Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said on Thursday that the frontline in Ukraine was stable, and that Russia had concentrated its forces on "completing the liberation" of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

In an end of year message delivered to foreign military attaches and published by the defence ministry, Russia's top military officer said: "The situation on the front line has stabilised, with the main efforts of the Russian troops concentrated on completing the liberation of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic."

LONDON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that U.S. supplies of Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, announced during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, would not contribute to settling the conflict or prevent Russia from achieving its goals.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the Patriot shipment: "This is not conducive to a speedy settlement, quite the contrary. And this cannot prevent the Russian Federation from achieving its goals during the special military operation", using Russia's term for the war.

MOSCOW, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The combat capability of the Russian armed forces is "increasing day by day" and Russia will certainly step up this process, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"Today, our goal is to implement the entire scope of necessary measures to achieve a qualitative renewal and improvement of the armed forces," Putin said at an expanded meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry Board.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Russia has a certain margin of safety in the military field, President Vladimir Putin pointed out, addressing an expanded board meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday.

"The state of our armed forces, as well as the fact that we have advanced weapons and equipment that other countries don’t have create a certain margin of safety. We do have it," Putin noted.