Follow live updates from NBC News as Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at his annual year-end news conference on Ukraine, peace, war and Trump.

As the war between Russia and Ukraine persists, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his nation's "troops are advancing," The Associated Press reported.

St. Petersburg meeting will focus on trade integration, regional coordination, and bilateral talks alongside summits of former Soviet member states.

Russian President Vladimir Putin used his year-end press conference and call-in show to say that Russia is "ready and willing" to end its war in Ukraine peacefully, as long as all Moscow's demands are met.

Ukraine has firmly rejected Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Russia could help ensure security for Ukrainian elections, calling the remarks a blatant overreach by the Kremlin. Speaking in Moscow, the Russian President floated the idea of pausing strikes on voting days and raised demands about Ukrainians living inside Russia being allowed to vote — framing elections as a question of “legitimacy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly ready to suspend strikes deep inside Ukraine on election day. However, he has set his own conditions for this, the Kremlin chief said this while speaking to journalists.