At New Year's press conference, Putin supported Trump

(Patria) – Russian President Vladimir Putin held his traditional New Year's press conference on Thursday, attended by about 2,000 media representatives, but only a few got the chance to ask questions.

Putin spoke in good spirits on various topics, from global warming, doping bans at the Olympic Games to Ukraine and US President Trump, for whom he said he was impeached for 'far-reaching' reasons, calling the Democrats' move a continuation of the fight they are waging against the Republican leader. He also predicts that their attempt will fail – assuming the initiative will not pass the Senate.

On the topic of climate change, the Russian president noted that it is difficult to predict, and that it could mean 'catastrophe' for the Russian cold north, but that 'all efforts must be made to prevent dramatic climate changes'.

- As for our country, this process is of crucial importance to us. The temperature in Russia is rising 2.5 times faster than the planetary average. As you know, Russia is a northern country, and 70% of its territory is located at northern latitudes. Some of our cities are built north of the Arctic Circle, in the permafrost area. If it starts to melt, you can imagine the consequences. It would be a catastrophe, emphasized the Russian president.

Putin inevitably commented on Ukraine as well; he warned that the peace process for eastern Ukraine would fail if the Ukrainian president did not respect the previously reached agreements.

- If we amend the Minsk Agreement, the peace process will be at a dead end because the key element of the Minsk Agreement is the law on the special status of Donbas, which must be formalized in the Ukrainian constitution, he underlined.

Putin added that a direct dialogue with Donbas must be established, and that this has not been achieved so far. 'Amendments regarding decentralization have been announced. That's good. But is the intention to replace the Minsk Agreement? Or the law on the special status of Donbas?', he asked.

Regarding Belarus, he said he was 'very happy that we are getting closer', but that it would be a mistake to 'rush' the creation of a unified state.

Let us recall that Russia and Belarus signed an agreement on unity in 1997, which provided for closer political, military and economic ties, but not the formation of a unified nation.

Lately, there has been speculation that Putin is considering a union with Belarus to head a new, even larger state by the end of his term in 2024. However, he confirmed at the press conference that he does not believe the constitution should be changed, agencies report.