Watch live: Vladimir Putin holds annual end of year address and phone-in with Russians

Watch live as Vladimir Putin holds his annual televised new conference on Friday (19 December).

The event, which is a Q&A session from both journalists and members of the public, has been held almost every year since 2001. According to state media, this year a record-breaking 2.5 million questions were submitted.

Some foreign journalists are at the event, though questions from there are often kept at a minimum.

It comes after European Union leaders struck a deal to give Ukraine a €90bn (£79bn; $105bn) loan after failing to agree on using frozen Russian assets.

The president of the European Council, António Costa,“We committed and we delivered” to the loan, which will be paid back by Kyiv only once Moscow pays reparations.

Zelensky praised the deal as a sign of “significant support that truly strengthens our resilience”.

Reacting to the deal, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, said that “law and sanity” prevailed after the leaders decided not to use Russia’s frozen assets.

“Major BLOW to EU warmongers led by failed Ursula — voices of reason in the EU BLOCKED the ILLEGAL use of Russian reserves to fund Ukraine,” he said on X.

Earlier this week, Putin blasted EU leaders as “little pigs” who want the collapse of Russia, and said that Moscow would “liberate its historical lands on the battlefield” if diplomacy fails.