I agree with Shaun’s analysis. In terms of news, Putin’s press conference told us very little we didn’t already know. After 16 years in the job (including four as prime minister), Putin is an accomplished media performer who has seen and done everything.
There were a few moments of passion. One of them came when he was asked by a German reporter about Ukraine. Putin said Russia wasn’t to blame for the 2014 war, which others created. It’s clear to me that getting rid of EU and US sanctions against Russia remains Moscow’s top foreign policy priority. The good news for Putin is that president-elect Trump has pretty much indicated that his administration will dump them.
Putin was scathing about the Democrats, essentially branding them bad losers and whingers. As Shaun notes, he dodged the question as to whether Russia hacked the US presidential election. Certainly, the CIA and US intelligence officials believe Kremlin operatives were to blame, acting on Putin’s direct orders. We haven’t yet seen proof. The question now is how much Obama will declassify in his twilight days in office.
Thanks to everyone who has followed this blog and happy Christmas! Or счастливого Рождества, as they say in Russia. Let’s do it again in 2017.
Here is Shaun Walker’s take on one of the most important set pieces of the Kremlin’s year, at the end of a tumultuous 2016. Shaun writes:
“Not the liveliest of Putin’s press conferences, and quite the endurance test at nearly four hours in duration. As usual he handled questions on pretty much everything from local affairs to geopolitics deftly and with occasional humour, but then that’s the joy of the format for Putin – no chance for any kind of follow-up question or real probing. Sometimes these press conferences involve news bombshells, but we didn’t learn much today we didn’t already know.
“Putin was evasive over whether he’d stand for president again in 2018 and gave evasive or general answers to specific questions such as on the trial over the murder of Boris Nemtsov or high-profile Russian corruption cases.
“All in all, in the disaster year that Putin is widely regarded to have ‘won’, he looked confident, assured, and like he’s not going anywhere soon. And he couldn’t resist that little jibe, that even though he denied all the hacking allegations, he had always believed that Trump would win, whatever everyone might have thought.”
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It’s over! Putin wishes everyone a happy new year and good luck. Not quite four hours but almost. I’ll post a few thoughts in a moment.
After 3 hours 53 mins Putin's end of year news conference is over pic.twitter.com/CjyIR4aCzU
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) December 23, 2016
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Putin says he wants to normalise relations with president-elect Trump
A question on president-elect Trump from NBC News.
Trump is formulating his cabinet at the moment, Putin says. Trump said during the course of the US election campaign that he wanted to normalise US-Russian ties. Putin agrees. Trump also said relations with Moscow couldn’t get any worse. Putin thinks this is also right. He doesn’t know when they will meet.
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We’ve now reached the silly stage of Putin’s annual press conference, which has been going on for nearly four hours. Normally at this point you can expect questions on gardening or how to bring up children. I missed this exchange but fortunately Shaun Walker was there to record it for posterity:
"Can I ask about love?" calls out a journalist
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
"Love quickly turns to hate," says Putin, turning her down.
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Putin is now talking about the deaths in Siberia of dozens of people from drinking fake alcohol. The deaths in Irkutsk appear to have been caused by a counterfeit batch of Boyaryshnik, a concentrated liquid sold as a relaxant to add to bathwater but widely known as a cheap alcohol substitute. At least 74 people have perished.
Putin calls it a terrible tragedy. “I just don’t have words for it,” he says. He says a lot of citizens, some of them foreigners, have been producing home-grown spirits. They didn’t understand what they were doing, he says.
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A question about Alexander Sokolov, a Russian reporter arrested over alleged extremism. Putin says he’ll look at it.
The journalist complains about the way liberal media outlets have been shut down or sued in court by Kremlin officials. The officials have always won, she says. They include Igor Sechin, Putin’s friend, who successfully sued the newspaper Novaya Gazeta after it revealed details of his mega-yacht.
Putin defends Sechin (who is, incidentally, good friends with Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson). “What else can he do to defend his honour and dignity? He goes to court, like in any other civilised country,” Putin says.
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A question from China’s state CCTV. A journalist says Europe is in bad shape, with terrorist attacks. Plus there’s a new president in the White House. What does he think about relations with China?
We have a strategic partnership with China, Putin says. It’s a major economic partner for us, he adds. We have joint projects in atomic energy, space, infrastructure. And we have a “common position” on many international questions. This is a stabilising force in global affairs, he says.
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Here’s some more from Shaun:
“So, we’ve passed the two-and-a-half-hour mark. Putin has started showing the strain a little with the appearance of his trademark dry cough, and there are still hundreds of journalists bouncing up and down with their homemade signs trying to get the Russian president to pay attention. It can be pretty random: the guy with a large yellow ‘Chess’ sign just got picked, but ‘Save Our Volga’, ‘Clever Russia’, ‘Barack Obama’ and ‘From the Heart of Russia’ are among the dozens that are still waiting.
“It has been a pretty sterile affair so far by Putin’s standards. Perhaps the most interesting moment for international audiences was Putin’s vicious castigation of the Obama administration. Otherwise we’ve had questions on oil prices, grain production, and whether or not foreign consulting firms should be banned from Russia.
“How much longer we’ll go is a mystery – it could wrap up shortly after the three-hour mark or it could go on for hours more.”
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Will Putin stand again as president? This comes from Andrey Kolesnikov, celebrated correspondent for the Kommersant newspaper. Russia’s next election is due in 2018. It would surprise no one if Putin did stand for a fourth presidential term.
Putin says he’ll look at the state of the world and Russia, have a think and then decide. This sounds to me like a yes.
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Putin expresses condolences to the victims of Monday's terror attack in Berlin
Ah! A question in German. Putin speaks German fluently from his time as a KGB spy in Dresden. What does he make of the terror attack in Berlin? And the death yesterday aged 80 of Stalin’s grandson Yevgeny Dzhugashvili?
Putin talks about Russia’s relations with Germany. Russia hasn’t started anything and is merely responding to “anti-Russian sanctions”, he says. “Let’s look at what actually happened.” (He’s referring to events in Ukraine in 2014, which saw president Viktor Yanukovich flees to Russia following anti-government protests.)
He says Russia was merely responding to the “tragedy in the Donbas” in eastern Ukraine. “We didn’t initiate these events,” he repeats. “We don’t consider ourselves to be the guilty party.”
He sends his condolences to the victims of Monday’s terror attack in Berlin. He says western spy agencies have stopped cooperating with their Russian counterparts, making terrorism easier.
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It’s a “tough question” now. A lot of your friends have been given influential jobs and got state awards. They have become regional governors across Russia, one journalist says, citing various examples. “Did you do this specially?” he says.
The question is indeed a good one: many of Putin’s old schoolfriends and cronies from St Petersburg are now billionaires (though the journalist doesn’t mention this). Putin says he’s appointed these people for the good of Russia. They are effective, energetic and reliable, he says.
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Now it’s the turn of Lenta.Ru, an online news portal. (Its editor was fired after printing an interview with a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist, in a blow to Russia’s already squeezed independent media.) The question is rather disappointing, about the treatment of animals.
Not everyone is finding this scintillating:
Putin's big annual press conference. Hour one. pic.twitter.com/HxD7AlWwN5
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) December 23, 2016
Shaun Walker isn’t having a great time, either:
At 2hrs48, Putin presser approaching the length of two football matches. My laptop has 40% power left & frankly I'd back VVP to outlast it.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
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And now an interesting question from a Kurdish journalist. Russia is playing a big role in the world, especially in the Middle East. What does Russia think about the fact that Iraqi Kurds are on the way to independence?
Putin says Russia has always had a very good relationship with the Kurds. They’ve had a tough destiny, he says. He says the Kurds have fought very effectively against terrorism. On sovereignty, Putin says everything must be done according to international law. What happens next is up to Iraq and the Kurds, he adds.
Putin gets a question from the North Caucasus. This is Russia’s Muslim south where a largely unreported war has been going on between Islamist rebels and federal and local security forces. The area has suffered from “international terrorism”. Should the term “Islamic State” be banned? Putin doesn’t agree.
He moves onto another question about Russia’s road-building programme in the north of the country. Roads are an old favourite at these events. A good transport system is important, Putin says.
We’ve been going for two-and-a-half hours now and my neck is beginning to hurt. Putin is talking about Crimea again. He says he will step up electricity production to the peninsula, which has suffered from shortages and blackouts. His audience applauds.
The later stages of Putin’s press conferences can go anywhere, frankly. Putin is now talking about chess. He says Russia can be proud of its chess players and its specialist chess schools. The chess centre in Sochi - scene of Russia’s 2014 Winter Olympics - is doing good things, he says.
Putin praises Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian world No 1 and winner of this month’s Fide world championship in New York. Carlsen was playing against the Crimean-born and Russian-affiliated challenger, Sergey Karjakin.
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Now something from RT, the Kremlin’s international propaganda channel! Americans love to talk about democracy. Now people think the recent US election wasn’t democratic at all. What does Putin think?
Putin says the US electoral system is archaic and unfair but that ultimately this is a matter for the American people. He says America is a great country.
Oliver Carroll of the Moscow Times is unimpressed with this question:
Brilliant, cutting, unscripted question fm @RT_com: “Americans talk abt democracy more than anyone, and now they complain. Am I right, VV?”
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) December 23, 2016
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One of the most amusing commentators on Twitter is @DarthPutinKGB, a parody account that pokes fun at Russia’s leader. After a somewhat slow start this morning he’s just tweeted this:
I like when journalists ask me multiple questions. That way I can ignore the awkward one, joke about the easy one and lie about the hard one
— Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) December 23, 2016
We’re now talking about the European Union and the 2010 crash in Smolensk, Russia, which killed 96 people including the Polish president, Lech Kaczyński. The government in Warsaw has blamed Moscow for the disaster.
Putin says this is wrong. He says: “I personally read the transcript of the conversation between the pilot and the president.” [Kaczyński insisted the pilot should land even though the runway was shrouded in fog, it’s been claimed.] Putin says: “It was a terrible tragedy. We’re doing everything we can to investigate. Don’t use this to spoil bilateral relations.”
Putin denies that he wants a weak Europe. “We want a reliable, strong and independent partner,” he says.
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And now a question from Ufa, capital of the republic of Bashkortostan. The journalist thanks Putin “for everything you have done”. “We agree with you,” he says. He talks about the “information war” against Russia. He says western consulting firms are working in Russia. There are lots of “foreign agents” out there, he says.
This question not exactly spontaneous, methinks.
Putin says the question of western rating agencies is not straightforward. (They’ve marked down Russia’s economy.) He says they should work properly and transparently.
Here’s Shaun again:
Long rambling Q to Putin that boils down to: We love you, we won the war, why are foreign consulting companies allowed to work in Russia?
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
We’re now on mining. There’s a question from the Kuzbass region about Russia’s coal industry. (Kuzbass is one of the biggest coal-mining areas in the world, in south-west Siberia.) Putin says coal should play as important a role in Russia as oil and gas.
He turns next to the price of oil and its implications for Russia’s budget. A $10 (£8.16) difference in oil price means 3.7tn roubles (£49.3bn) more or less for the budget, he points out.
Some of the reporters in the audience are getting a bit restless. This from the FT’s long-suffering Max Seddon:
Almost two hours into the Putin presser. Putin talking about coal. Still waiting for traditional questions from completely insane people.
— max seddon (@maxseddon) December 23, 2016
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Here’s Shaun Walker’s latest analysis:
“Putin was pretty vicious on the Democrats, which is not surprising given the way bilateral relations have been over the past years. Now that Obama is leaving office, Putin can finally say everything he thinks. He portrayed all the accusations of Russian interference as sour grapes from bad losers.
“Putin gave another denial that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democrats, and said Trump was quite right to say it could have been any other country or individual. He declined to say whether recent US claims that Obama personally asked him to stop hacking were true.
“And, in classic Putin fashion, after denying everything, he gave a little wink-nudge nugget just to muddy the waters: ‘Nobody believed he’d win. Except us, of course. We always believed.’”
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Relations with Turkey will continue, following ambassador's murder, Putin says
We’re now on Turkey and its relations with Russia. The question follows the murder on Monday in Ankara of Russia’s envoy to Turkey, Andrei Karlov.
Putin calls Karlov’s killing a tragedy. It was an attack on Russia and on Turkish-Russian relations, he says. Putin says ties will continue and says it recent months the two countries have found compromises. He says Turkey has a huge role to play in what happens in Aleppo. Russia has carried out a “major humanitarian action” in Aleppo, he claims. No mention of civilian casualties.
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It’s worth following the BBC’s Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, who asked the best question so far on Russian hacking of the US election. Here’s Steve’s translation of Putin’s answer:
Replying to my question on US election hacking allegations, Vladimir Putin says: "The losing side always tries to pass the buck"
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) December 23, 2016
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After the fascinating exchanges on Trump, we’ve now moved on to Ukraine. What’s happening with the peace process there? How are negotiations going with the leaders of France and Germany? Putin takes a second question from a Ukrainian journalist asking if the Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko – arrested in Russia – can be freed? “Russians are occupiers for us,” he says.
Putin says that Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, has suggesting swapping prisoners one for one. He agrees with this. He says journalists should concentrate on doing journalism. “Nobody wants to arrest journalists doing their job,” he says. He refers to the case of film director Oleg Sentsov and says he’s been convicted by a court of terrorist activity.
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Putin is now talking about the environment. Russia needs to look after its forests, he says. If we don’t do this major cities and green areas will suffer.
Russia's president says he didn't hack the US election
On hacking the US election, Putin says that he won’t reveal his private conversations with Obama. He says: “Losers always look for ways to accuse someone else. The always forget the most important thing. Let’s say some hackers hacked Democratic emails. As Trump said: ‘Who knows who did it?’”
Putin repeats Trump’s comments that “maybe it was some guy sitting on a couch who did it”. He says “the truth came out”. We discovered the Democrats were manipulating the election to help Hillary Clinton and hurt Bernie Sanders, Putin says.
Putin says it’s not important who hacked the emails. What’s important is what they revealed, he insists
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Putin says Russia not to blame for increasing nuclear tensions
Putin says that the US created conditions for a new arms race when it withdrew from the ABM treaty. Russia simply responded to what America did. “We don’t violate anything. We are in line with our obligations as to the number of our warheads.” US inspectors visited a site recently, Putin says. “It wasn’t us. They did it.” He says Russia’s system is highly effective which is why the US is “anxious” to improve its systems. Countries including the UK have also been upgrading nuclear weapons.
Putin says: “If someone is stimulating a nuclear arms race it’s not us.”
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Steve Rosenberg from the BBC asks about Russian hacking of the US presidential election. He speaks in English. Did Putin interfere? Big moment.
Next a question on Russian doping. Is the situation improving? Should Wada - the organisation which said the Kremlin was guilty of state-sponsored doping - be reformed? Is the World Anti-Doping Agency political?
Putin says there is no state doping programme in Russia. He says like any other country there are problems with doping. Russia should work closely with the International Olympic Commitee and with WADA. He says Russian prosecutors are investigating doping.
Putin says he can’t remember the name of the person who fled to the US. (This is Grigory Rodchenkov, who passed evidence to the authorities of Kremlin-backed doping.) Putin suggests Rodchenkov had “patrons” in the US and suggests that his allegations were part of a conspiracy. Wada has been extremely secretive and not transparent, Putin claims. “Sport should be separate from geopolitics,” he says.
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That was Putin’s most interesting answer so far. Putin said nothing about the allegation, made by US intelligence officials, that Kremlin hackers stole and published Democratic emails in order to help Trump.
Here are what journalists are saying about Putin’s comments on Trump:
Trump "understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him, except us," says Putin to more applause.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
Putin: Dems are "losing on every front and looking for people to blame everywhere. They need to learn to lose with dignity."
— max seddon (@maxseddon) December 23, 2016
Putin on Trump: "Right up to the end, nobody believed he would win, except us." *applause*
— max seddon (@maxseddon) December 23, 2016
Putin says he's not to blame for the failures of the Democrats in US
A question on international affairs. The world is undergoing a fundamental change. People are voting against the old ideas of political elites. There’s been Brexit in 2016, the victory of Donald Trump. Have you discussed these changes? Is it true that 37% of Republican voters in the US like you? Are you the most influential man in the world? ...
This is pretty fawning stuff.
Putin says the Democrats are trying to find a scapegoat for their failures. They lost the Congress and the Senate. “Am I to blame?” Putin asks. He says the Obama administration has systemic problems. The fact that many Republican voters support Moscow is not down to him. It’s because they have the same ideas about the world order. “They are people who share our traditional values”.
He says that Reagan would “not roll in his grave” at Trump but would be happy at his victory. “Certainly only we knew that he was going to win. No-one else did,” Putin says to applause. Roosevelt united the nation but the Obama administration split the nation. “It’s a humiliation for them,” Putin says of the Democrats. He says he wants a “business-like relationship” with the Trump government.
So we’re now moving onto Crimea, the territory Putin invaded and annexed in 2014. How is Crimea integrating into the Russian economy? The peninsula has problems with energy resources?
Putin talks about the bridge being built across the Kerch strait between mainland Russia and Crimea. It’s up to Crimeans to give it a name, he says. He says that he hopes one day Russia will normalise its relations with Ukraine. He admits legally and economically integration has been tougher than he expected.
Shaun tweets this:
Q from Crimea
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
- What should we call the bridge?
- It's not for me to come up with a name, I came up with idea to build it.
[applause]
OK! The Wall Street Journal is next. It’s Nathan Hodge. Will there be a presidential election next year? Putin jokes: “Which country”? Hodge: “Russia”. Putin: “It’s possible but not expedient.” Everyone laughs at this exchange.
Hodge asks about strengthening nuclear forces. Putin asks him to clarify what exactly what he means. Hodge says Trump has said he wants to strengthen them. Putin says there’s nothing new about the president-elect’s comments. “To be honest I’m a bit surprised by the officials of the Obama administration. They started to prove that the US army is the most powerful in the world. Nobody challenges that. I said that Russia is stronger than any potential aggressor.”
Putin says he didn’t use the word “aggressor” accidentally. Why? Because we upgraded our armed forces, and because of our history and geography. He says it’s no secret that “we have overhauled our nuclear capabilities”. Russia has ground and sea based missiles. Plus new submarines and aircraft systems.
A Kremlin pool journalist is up next. He asks about western sanctions on Russia. Putin says he thinks the price of oil next year will be $40 a barrel. This has implications for the Russian budget. “We have money for the social security programme,” he says. In 2011 2.7% of GDP was spent on defence. This expenditure has since gone up. In 2016 it was 4.7%, Putin says, adding that he expects this figure to go down again.
Shaun Walker has tweeted this on the previous question about the murder of Boris Nemtsov. He notes there’s no opportunity to hit Putin with a follow-up:
Putin evasive on whether suspect & Kadyrov associate Geremeyev will be forced to appear at Nemtsov trial. Beauty of format: no follow-up Q.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
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The liberal radio station Echo of Moscow now has a question. It’s about corruption. He mentions the case of Alexey Ulakayev, recently fired from the economics ministry. He also asks about the investigation into the murder of Boris Nemtsov, the opposition politician gunned down in 2015 300 metres away from the Kremlin.
Putin says he’s been following these high-profile cases closely. He supports the investigators who are trying to find the people responsible. On corruption done by officials, he says “this happens in our country”.
He mentions Alexei Karlov, the Russian ambassador killed this week in Ankara, and says Russia will find out who was responsible. Putin says he didn’t speak to Ulakayev but says the evidence gathered “was enough to dismiss him”. He won’t speculate further ahead of a court case.
Elena from Tatarstan has a question. She says Russia has a lot of problems with its banks. Her region has been affected. Sometimes they go bankrupt and people don’t get their money. Any plans to fix this?
Putin talks about the policy of Russia’s Central Bank. He says it’s correct. There should be different requirements for big and small banks.
My colleague Shaun Walker already seems a little weary. He’s tweeted this:
. @Republic_Mag says Putin's agricultural figures are better than the ones Medvedev gave a week ago. A week is a long time in farming etc.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) December 23, 2016
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Alexander wants to know more about Russia’s economic growth. He says the world is going through “technological changes”. It seems “we are behind other countries, quite significantly”. Is this right? Putin says Russia is investing in technology. We export $14bn worth of weapons and $7bn in IT, he says. The country is a world leader in certain areas such as the defence industry and nuclear technology. “We saw a real boom,” Putin tells journalists.
Pretty clear that the questions so far – all of them on domestic stuff – are following a pre-arranged script. We should get more some more newsworthy lines a little later, once the conversation moves onto international affairs.
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The second question is about agriculture. Marina, holding a yellow poster, wants to know about subsidies for farm machinery. Will there be any more money for this sector? Putin sees “positive developments” here too. He says the government shouldn’t subsidise the industry permanently.
Putin is still talking about the economy, saying he’s “optimistic about the future”. Shaun Walker points out that these press conferences can go on for a long time. He writes:
“The longest was in 2008 (4 hours and 40 minutes) and in 2012 (4 hours 33 minutes). But in recent years they have become somewhat shorter, last year’s was only three and a half hours.”
Putin is being asked about the Russian economy. It’s been a turbulent year, a journalist asks him. The president says that “everything is relative” and “we have to look at macro-economic indicators”. GDP was down last year by 3.8%, Putin says, but predicts the fall in 2017 will be 1%. In short, the economy is “developing positively”
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And we’re off! Vladimir Putin has arrived
My colleague Shaun Walker is in place and ready to go. He sends this from Moscow:
The press conference usually includes a mixture of carefully scripted pre-arranged questions and off-the-cuff wild cards which Putin himself picks from the signs which journalists bring to wave in the hope of getting his attention. So far I’ve seen a “Gifted Children” sign, a “Save our Volga!” sign, and an “Irkutsk: boyaryshnik” sign referencing the horrendous tragedy in the city last week when over 70 people died from ingesting high-alcohol bath tincture. Oh and a sign with a full colour image of Putin as Superman.
Opening summary
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Not Christmas, or last-minute festive shopping, but Vladimir Putin’s annual blockbuster press conference. The event has become one of the highlights of his presidency and - at three hours plus - a macho display of the president’s ironman stamina.
Some 1400 journalists are accredited to this year’s conference in Moscow. It was delayed for a day to allow Putin to attend the funeral on Thursday of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, shot dead in Ankara this week.
Putin will undoubtedly talk about the major themes of the year: Syria, Ukraine, the election of Donald Trump, and whether Russian hackers helped Trump triumph. Plus terrorism, nuclear weapons, the ambassador’s murder, and Monday’s truck terror attack in Berlin. Putin’s spin doctor has already dismissed the hacking claim as ridiculous.
There will also be questions on bread-and-butter issues for ordinary Russians. Practically everyone agrees that 2016 has been an annus mirabilis for Putin. Everything the Kremlin might have wished took place: Brexit; the defeat of Hillary Clinton and Syrian rebels in Aleppo; victory for pro-Russian candidates in European elections. Putin’s only bad moment came in April when an international consortium of journalists revealed that Putin’s best friend - a cellist called Sergei Roldugin - had $2bn in secret offshore accounts.
I’ll be live-blogging Putin’s press conference. The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker will be inside Moscow’s world trade centre watching it unfold live. It’s been a while since the Guardian got to ask a question but maybe 2016 is our year? You can follow Shaun on Twitter. I’ll be posting a mixture of reaction and analysis, and the odd joke.
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