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| Vladimir Putin Addresses Tumultuous Events of 2014 | Vladimir Putin Addresses Tumultuous Events of 2014 |
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| President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia began his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, with Russians and the wider world expecting him to publicy address the ruble crisis for the first time. | |
| He said in his opening remarks that the ruble crisis, and Russia’s broader economic crisis, were provoked by outside forces but that Moscow and its central bank had adequate means to stabilize the currency. | |
| He said that initial measures may have been too slow, but promised to speed action to avoid further economic damage. “I believe that the central bank and the government are taking adequate measures,” he said. | |
| Mr. Putin has managed to maintain high popularity ratings during 15 years of leading Russia, in large part by assuring security and prosperity. But the recent nose dive of the ruble, which has lost half its value in recent weeks, is threatening that achievement. | |
| The currency’s plunge came in large part as a result of a precipitous drop in oil prices. Energy resources constitute 60 percent of the country’s exports, and Russia’s budget is built around an oil price of roughly $100 a barrel, whereas oil is now selling at about $61 a barrel. But Western sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea and destabilized Ukraine have compounded the problem. | |
| Russian companies owe about $650 billion to Western banks, while the country’s foreign exchange reserves are pegged around $400 million. The government tried to calm the exchange market by announcing that it had sufficient money to cover the debts, but with all new financing from the West cut off by sanctions, the source of that money remains unclear. | |
| Russia’s state-controlled television has been promoting the news conference all week with a fast-paced advertisement that shows quick clips of some of the year’s major events, including the Olympic Games in Sochi, the annexation of Crimea, charts of financial performance, the situation in the Middle East and floods in Russia’s far east. It ends with a screen of print giving the name and date of the news conference. | |
| Neil MacFarquhar, the New York Times Moscow bureau chief, is attending the news conference of and providing updates via Twitter, below. His full report will follow on NYTimes.com after the end of the question-and-answer session. | |
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