Russian President Vladimir Putin’s traditional annual press conference is underway, and around two and a half million questions have been received.
Putin, among other things, referred to the development of the Oreshnik missile, which has caused a storm of reactions in Europe, and said that its range is 5.5 thousand kilometers.
“Let’s imagine that our system is located at a distance of two thousand kilometers, but even anti-missile missiles located on Polish territory will simply not reach it. I suggest to the West: choose a target in Kiev, group air defense systems there and try to intercept the Oreshnik strike. There is no way that Oreshnik can be easily shot down or destroyed,” said the Russian president.
He emphasized that sovereignty is particularly important for Russia, because in the event of its loss, statehood is also lost, and that the growth of the Russian economy is largely conditioned by the strengthening of sovereignty, RTS reports.
He also assessed that everything is in the economy, Sputnik reports.
As he said, the Russian economy is stable, despite all the challenges, including external ones, and he pointed out that in two years Russia achieved growth of eight percent, while in America this indicator is five to six percent, in the eurozone – one, and in Germany – zero.
“When everything is calm, then we are bored. When things are turbulent, then we are afraid,” Putin assessed.
He added that international financial and economic institutions have placed Russia in first place in terms of economic growth among European countries, and fourth in the world, but that it must not fall asleep when it comes to this indicator.
According to him, one of the key economic indicators is the unemployment rate, and in Russia it is at a record low level – 2.3 percent.
Industrial growth in Russia is 4.4 percent, he said, RTS reports.
Putin also assessed that the departure of foreign companies from Russia has encouraged the development of domestic business.
“Our entrepreneurs have started producing these goods themselves. This has created the need to conduct some additional research, to involve institutes, including development ones. All this is strengthening technological sovereignty,” Putin said.
According to him, one should always think about the future, which is why the Russian government is thinking about the future and formulating development goals.
Vladimir Putin said that Russian forces are moving towards achieving their primary goals in the conflict in Ukraine.
He stressed that the situation is changing “dramatically” and that Russian forces are advancing along the front line every day.
Russia, he said, will push Ukrainian forces out of the Russian Kursk region.
Putin’s annual conference began shortly after 12 noon local time, or 10 a.m. Central European Time.
Security measures are tightened around the Kremlin and on Red Square.
There is great interest in the conference from domestic and foreign journalists.
