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| Vladimir Putin’s Annual Year-End News Conference | Vladimir Putin’s Annual Year-End News Conference |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| MOSCOW — A relaxed, at times jovial President Vladimir V. Putin brushed aside fears about Russian financial turmoil Thursday, holding court for reporters in a Moscow hotel and answering unscreened questions on topics ranging from his love life to the Ukraine crisis to the campaign against perceived “fifth columnists” in the state-controlled news media. | |
| The three-hour news conference provided Mr. Putin with a platform to make his first public remarks since the ruble exchange rate began swinging wildly earlier in the week. He said that Russia’s current economic tumult could last at most two years, and rather than offer a specific remedy, he suggested that revived global demand for oil would eventually solve the problems. | The three-hour news conference provided Mr. Putin with a platform to make his first public remarks since the ruble exchange rate began swinging wildly earlier in the week. He said that Russia’s current economic tumult could last at most two years, and rather than offer a specific remedy, he suggested that revived global demand for oil would eventually solve the problems. |
| “We are going through a trying period, difficult times at the moment,” said Mr. Putin, answering questions at his annual end-of-year news conference. “I would not call the situation a crisis. You may call it whatever you want.” | |
| In his more confrontational moments, the 62-year-old president found a new way to expound on his favorite theme this year: that he was determined to thwart plots by the West in general and the United States in particular against Russia. Using the symbol of the Russian bear, Mr. Putin said he wondered how the creature should behave. | In his more confrontational moments, the 62-year-old president found a new way to expound on his favorite theme this year: that he was determined to thwart plots by the West in general and the United States in particular against Russia. Using the symbol of the Russian bear, Mr. Putin said he wondered how the creature should behave. |
| “Maybe he should stop chasing pigs and boars around the taiga, but start picking berries and eating honey. Maybe then he will be left alone,” Mr. Putin said, warming to the analogy. “But no, he won’t be! Because someone will always try to chain him up. As soon as he’s chained, they will tear out his teeth and claws.” | |
| The latter, he said, was a reference to Russia’s nuclear deterrence. | The latter, he said, was a reference to Russia’s nuclear deterrence. |
| His remarks on the economy held the most interest, given that the price of oil and the Russian ruble plummeted in tandem this week, with the ruble testing historic lows of 80 to the dollar before rallying to closer to 60, though still down about 40 percent on the year. | His remarks on the economy held the most interest, given that the price of oil and the Russian ruble plummeted in tandem this week, with the ruble testing historic lows of 80 to the dollar before rallying to closer to 60, though still down about 40 percent on the year. |
| Analysts said the decline reflected not just the drop in oil prices but also investors’ distrust of the government’s ability to cope, or to promote economic growth through something other than oil exports. | Analysts said the decline reflected not just the drop in oil prices but also investors’ distrust of the government’s ability to cope, or to promote economic growth through something other than oil exports. |
| “Economically, socially and politically, the country will have to go through severe economic tests in the years to come,” said Dmitri Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “Not having a working, realistic, credible model for economic development, not just muddling through, will become critical.” | “Economically, socially and politically, the country will have to go through severe economic tests in the years to come,” said Dmitri Trenin, the head of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “Not having a working, realistic, credible model for economic development, not just muddling through, will become critical.” |
| Mr. Putin acknowledged that many Russians blamed Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of the central bank, for the crisis, but he defended the record of the bank. | Mr. Putin acknowledged that many Russians blamed Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of the central bank, for the crisis, but he defended the record of the bank. |
| “I believe that the central bank and the government are taking adequate measures,” he said. He did not present any new policies or a specific plan to address the problems, but rejected predictions that currency controls were in the offing. | |
| He also said Russia should try not to waste its $419 billion in currency reserves. The central bank has spent about $75 billion this year defending the ruble. | He also said Russia should try not to waste its $419 billion in currency reserves. The central bank has spent about $75 billion this year defending the ruble. |
| Mr. Putin described the problems as rooted in external factors, including the drop of about 50 percent in oil prices this year and Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s incursion into Ukraine. He said that global demand for oil would recover next year or in two years, and that this would solve the problem. | |
| The president, sitting on a small stage in an amphitheater in a Moscow hotel, seemed to be relying on his high popularity to carry the day, noting that Russia had emerged from the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed under his leadership. But it remained an open question whether that would be enough to persuade Russians, who are facing a sharp recession next year. | The president, sitting on a small stage in an amphitheater in a Moscow hotel, seemed to be relying on his high popularity to carry the day, noting that Russia had emerged from the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed under his leadership. But it remained an open question whether that would be enough to persuade Russians, who are facing a sharp recession next year. |
| “Above all, the goal was to calm people down about the crisis,” Mikhail Vinogradov, head of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation, said by telephone shortly after the speech. “The question is whether Putin’s calming words will turn into any kind of action.” | |
| Ordinary Russians are worried about the ruble’s collapse and rising inflation, which is expected to climb 10 percent by the end of the year and even higher early next year. They have flooded car dealerships, appliance stores and malls to spend savings before their rubles lose any more value. | Ordinary Russians are worried about the ruble’s collapse and rising inflation, which is expected to climb 10 percent by the end of the year and even higher early next year. They have flooded car dealerships, appliance stores and malls to spend savings before their rubles lose any more value. |
| The popular discount Swedish furniture chain Ikea has been mobbed for the last week. On Thursday, the company announced that it was suspending all sales of kitchen furniture and appliances for two days to catch up with the orders. It also announced that it would raise prices — a common step by importers trying to keep up with the lower value of the ruble. Russia depends on imports for about 30 percent of its consumer goods. | |
| Mr. Putin accused the West of trying to build a virtual wall around Russia by moving NATO forces closer to its border, and noted that the $50 billion that Russia plans to spend on its military next year is much less than the Pentagon’s budget. | Mr. Putin accused the West of trying to build a virtual wall around Russia by moving NATO forces closer to its border, and noted that the $50 billion that Russia plans to spend on its military next year is much less than the Pentagon’s budget. |
| He also conceded that Russia had contributed to a recent rise in global tensions by resuming long-range military surveillance flights across Europe and along the edges of North America. “The only thing we have done is to protect our interests in a tougher way,” he said. | He also conceded that Russia had contributed to a recent rise in global tensions by resuming long-range military surveillance flights across Europe and along the edges of North America. “The only thing we have done is to protect our interests in a tougher way,” he said. |
| That theme plays well at home, where political analysts estimate as much as 40 percent of the population wants Russia to regain its superpower status. | |
| Mr. Putin slipped in some criticism of the C.I.A. torture report in response to a question about the legality of burning the homes of suspected terrorists in Chechnya. “After 9/11, torture was legalized. How could you explain that?” he asked, a reference to the waterboarding of terror suspects by the C.I.A. during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. | |
| Mr. Putin estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the economic distress was rooted in the sanctions over Ukraine, but conceded that Russia had not done enough to diversify an economy in which energy resources constitute 60 percent of the country’s exports. | Mr. Putin estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the economic distress was rooted in the sanctions over Ukraine, but conceded that Russia had not done enough to diversify an economy in which energy resources constitute 60 percent of the country’s exports. |
| Even while Mr. Putin was speaking, the European Union imposed an array of new sanctions involving investment, services and trade linked to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. | Even while Mr. Putin was speaking, the European Union imposed an array of new sanctions involving investment, services and trade linked to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. |
| Russian corporations owe approximately $650 billion to Western banks, but sanctions have eliminated any chance of refinancing that debt. The foreign reserves should cover that for the time being, Mr. Putin suggested, though some analysts say as much as half of that — around $200 billion — is tied up in other obligations, like pensions. | |
| Mr. Putin stressed that Russia wanted to solve the crisis in Ukraine, and said he thought that President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine did, too, but that some nationalists there did not. | |
| In response to a question from a Ukrainian reporter about how many Russian soldiers had been dispatched into eastern Ukraine and how many had died there, Mr. Putin again called Russian fighters volunteers. He did not say how many had died. Still, Russia has toned down its rhetoric on Ukraine in the last month. | |
| The news conference is an annual ritual, with Mr. Putin picking questions at random from 1,200 or so reporters ranging from the mainstream Russian press to the BBC. | The news conference is an annual ritual, with Mr. Putin picking questions at random from 1,200 or so reporters ranging from the mainstream Russian press to the BBC. |
| In one awkward moment, a Russian reporter suggested in slurred speech that Mr. Putin support the sale of kvass, a mildly alcoholic beverage, in international chain stores. Mr. Putin suggested that the man might have been sipping a little. The Russian media soon reported that the reporter was not drunk, but that his speech had been slurred by two strokes. | |
| Several journalists asked why the state media had been unleashed to attack government critics as fifth columnists, to which Mr. Putin said it was sometimes hard to tell where “the opposition ends and the fifth column starts.” A fifth column is a group that tries to undermine a larger group. | Several journalists asked why the state media had been unleashed to attack government critics as fifth columnists, to which Mr. Putin said it was sometimes hard to tell where “the opposition ends and the fifth column starts.” A fifth column is a group that tries to undermine a larger group. |
| One reporter asked about Mr. Putin’s personal life. The president answered by saying that recently a European dignitary had asked him whether he had any love in his life. | One reporter asked about Mr. Putin’s personal life. The president answered by saying that recently a European dignitary had asked him whether he had any love in his life. |
| Mr. Putin said he had assured the unidentified visitor that he did, that he saw his former wife periodically as well as his two grown daughters. “Everything is fine,” he said. | |