Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual press conference and call-in show on Thursday. The event is broadcast live to 11 time zones in Russia and has become an annual tradition.
President Putin uses the platform to address the nation, usually focusing on domestic issues.
President Putin opened the tightly planned session by saying Russia’s economy is on track to grow by nearly 4% this year. He acknowledged that consumer prices were high and inflation was 9.3%, but insisted that economic conditions remained “stable”. He said that many international financial institutions rate Russia as the “fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity.” “China, the US and India are ahead of us,” he said, adding that Russia was ahead of Germany and Japan.
The Russian president also praised the achievements of his military in Ukraine.
Below are some of the key quotes from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual conference call and press conference.
About Brick
We are not working against anyone. We work in our interests and in the interests of the members of our organization. We are not trying to build any kind of hostile narrative or agenda. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said it best: “BRICS are not anti-Western. They are just not Western.”
About Trump
Well, first of all, I don’t know when we will meet because he doesn’t say anything. I haven’t talked to him at all in over 4 years. And of course, we are always ready for that. I’ll arrange a meeting if he wants.
(To the reporter) – You said that this conversation would take place in a situation where I was in some kind of debilitated state. Dear Colleague… You and those on your payroll in the United States really want Russia to weaken. I have a different perspective. I believe that Russia has become much stronger in the last few years.
About Prime Minister Modi
I have a warm relationship with Prime Minister Modi. The president said he has “many friends” in Asia, including India and China.
Regarding willingness to negotiate with Ukraine
We have always said we were willing to negotiate and compromise, only for the other side to literally and figuratively refuse to negotiate…
In my opinion, very soon there will be no Ukrainians who want to fight, and soon there will be no one who wants to fight. We are ready, but the other side must also be ready to negotiate and compromise.
About new things in Russia Oreshnik hypersonic missile
There is no possibility of shooting down this missile…
Let’s ask Western experts to suggest to us, let Western and American experts, who will pay us for their analysis, suggest that we conduct some kind of technological experiment, say a 21st century high-tech duel. Let them decide on a destruction target, for example, in Kiev, concentrate all the air and missile defense forces there, and we will attack there with Oreshnik and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment, but is the other side ready?
About the Ukraine war
I must say that the situation (on the front) is changing dramatically… There is movement across the front. every day…
And, as you said, we are moving towards solving the main tasks outlined at the beginning of the special military operation…
Everyone is literally fighting heroically. And they are fighting now. Let us wish them all good luck, victory and a return home, both those fighting in the Kursk region (of Russia) and those fighting across the front lines.
About the economy
In Russia, the situation is normal and stable and is developing despite everything, despite external threats and attempts to influence …
Of course, inflation is…an alarming signal…
There are some problems here: inflation, overheating of the economy, and governments and central banks are already tasked with reducing the tempo…
Some are subjective (the reason for the price increase), and some are shortcomings on our side. For example, some experts believe that the central bank could have started using certain tools more effectively and earlier that are unrelated to raising key interest rates. Yes, central banks started doing all this sometime in the summer, but again, these experts believe that this could and should have been done sooner…
In fact, rising prices are unpleasant and bad. But in general, we hope that this can also be addressed while maintaining macroeconomic indicators.
About Syria
The Russian leader has not yet met, but plans to meet, ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, who has been granted political asylum in Moscow, and the American who went missing in Syria 12 years ago. He said he was going to ask about journalist Austin Tice.
