SHOTLIST

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 2, 2025) (USERS MUST CREDIT “KREMLIN PRESS CENTER” HANDOUT, MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO —EDITORIAL USE ONLY)

1. REPORTERS WAITING FOR PUTIN IN PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM

2. RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN WALKING TOWARD MICROPHONES, GREETING REPORTERS

3. REPORER ASKING: “You will be meeting soon with Steven Witkoff, who came to Moscow specifically for this. In fact, the negotiation process now seems to be taking place only with the American side. Why are the Europeans silent — why are they so removed from this process?”

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“The Europeans are not silent. They complain that they have supposedly been excluded from the negotiations. But let me note that no one excluded them. They excluded themselves. At one time, we were in close contact with them. Then they abruptly severed contact with Russia. This was their initiative. Why did they do this? Because they adopted the thesis of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia and, apparently, still live under these illusions. Although they understand — intellectually they understand — that this is long in the past, that such a thing could never have happened. They took their wishful thinking for reality, but they cannot and do not want to admit this to themselves. They removed themselves from the process — that’s the first point.”

5. CLOSE-UP OF FEMALE REPORTER

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“Second — seeing that they also do not like the current outcome, they began to obstruct the current U.S. Administration and President Trump from achieving peace through negotiations. They themselves refused peace talks, and now they hinder President Trump.”

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“Third — they have no peace agenda; they stand on the side of war. And even when they attempt to supposedly introduce changes to Trump’s proposals, we clearly see that all such changes aim only at obstructing the entire peace process — to put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia. They understand this. And then they would shift the blame onto Russia for the collapse of the peace process. That is their goal. We see it clearly.”

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“Therefore, if they want to return to the ground of reality and to proceed from the actual situation “on the ground,” as they say in such cases — they are welcome; we are open to that.”

11. REPRTER ASKNG: “Szijjártó said today that we may find ourselves in a state of war with Europe — literally. He says that NATO’s European component intends to bring its forces to full combat readiness by 2029, and by 2030 there is a risk of armed conflict. This is very serious, almost sensational. How do you view this? Are we actually preparing for something?”

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“We have no intention of fighting Europe; I have said this a hundred times. But if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts a war, we are ready right now. There can be no doubt about that. The only question is this: if Europe starts a war with us, then very quickly… This is not Ukraine. With Ukraine, we are acting surgically, carefully.”

13. WHITE FLASH

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:
“This is not war in the direct, modern sense of the word. If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and actually starts it, then a situation could arise very quickly in which there will be no one left for us to negotiate with.”

15. REPORTERS

16. REPORTER ASKING: “Please comment on the attacks on tankers off the coast of Türkiye. Yet another such incident occurred today.”

17. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“Attacks on tankers in neutral waters, or even not in neutral waters but in the exclusive economic zone of another, third country. This is piracy, nothing else. Previously, the Ukrainian armed forces tried to strike our seaports. We responded — we did not initiate such operations — with similar strikes. I assure you, they were much more effective and powerful. And these were directed primarily at those ships and vessels transporting military equipment and ammunition to Ukraine.”

18. FEMALE REPORTER LISTENING

19. SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“And we hit exactly where we intended, as evidenced by the secondary explosions observed through aerial reconnaissance. But what the Ukrainian armed forces are doing now is piracy.”

20. FEMALE REPORTER LISTENING

21. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“What retaliatory measures might we take? First, we will expand the range of our strikes against port infrastructure and against ships and vessels entering Ukrainian ports. Second, if this continues, we will consider — I am not saying we will do it, but we will consider — retaliatory measures against the vessels of those countries that help Ukraine carry out such acts of piracy.”

22. REPORTERS LISTENING

23. SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:
“The most radical option would be cutting Ukraine off from the sea entirely. Then piracy would become impossible in principle. But all this would be a step-by-step escalation.”

24. REPORTERS LISTENING

26. SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING:

“I hope that the Ukrainian military and political leadership, as well as those standing behind them, will think carefully about whether it is worth continuing such practices."

27. PUTIN CONCLUDING PRESS CONFERENCE, GREETING REPORTERS
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 2, 2025) (USERS MUST CREDIT “KREMLIN PRESS CENTER” HANDOUT, MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO —EDITORIAL USE ONLY) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Dec. 2, said Moscow is “ready” to respond immediately if Europe were to launch hostilities, while accusing European countries of obstructing US-led efforts to reach a settlement in Ukraine and putting forward proposals he called “unacceptable” for Russia.

“We’re not going to fight Europe; I’ve said that a hundred times. But if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts, we’re ready right now,” he emphasized, as quoted by Tass news agency. “There can be no doubt about that.”

Putin claimed that European governments have “excluded themselves” from Ukraine negotiations and are now attempting to undermine US President Donald Trump’s ongoing diplomacy with Kyiv and Moscow.

“(European countries) have removed themselves from this process – first. Second, seeing that they don’t like the results today, they have begun to hinder both the current US administration and President Trump from achieving peace through negotiations,” he said.

Putin insisted that European attempts to amend US peace ideas are aimed at derailing the wider process.

“All these changes are aimed at only one thing – to block the entire peace process, to put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia, and they understand this,” Putin noted, adding that Europe is trying to shift blame for any collapse onto Moscow.

He added that European governments are upset about being left out of diplomacy but stressed that “no one excluded them – they excluded themselves.”
Putin also said Russia would allow Europeans to rejoin talks if they “take into account realities on the ground.”
On maritime security, Putin accused Ukraine of “piracy” after reported drone attacks on tankers in the Black Sea.

“Attacks on tankers, not even in neutral waters, but in the special economic zone of another state, a third state, is piracy,” he said, and added that Russia will expand strikes on Ukrainian ports and vessels entering them in response to the alleged attack on the tanker.

Russia’s River and Sea Transport Agency earlier in the day claimed that the MIDVOLGA-2 tanker was hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle at around 8 am local time (0500GMT) while sailing in the Black Sea.

A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official said Kyiv “has nothing to do” with a reported drone strike on a Russian tanker in the Black Sea, rejecting Moscow’s accusations and questioning the logic of the vessel’s alleged route.