Putin the problem-solver: Russian leader's annual TV phone-in marathon
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Version 0 of 1. Former government ministers, hunger striking construction workers and a British farmer called John have all been given an audience with Vladimir Putin as the Russian president put in a performance of characteristic stamina in his latest carefully choreographed televisual marathon. Putin answered questions for four hours on Thursday on subjects ranging from the sale of an advanced missile defence system to Iran to a family dispute over a pet dog. Related: Vladimir Putin authorises delivery of missile system to Iran The Russian president’s phone-in session with the nation has become an annual tradition, with questions coming from audience members in the studio and phone calls from around the country. Economic themes dominated the discussion, with foreign policy and the war in Ukraine taking a back seat. When Ukraine did come up, Putin again flatly denied that Russian troops had ever been involved in the conflict. He seemed keen to play the peacemaker, calling renewed war in the border areas impossible. The organisers said there had been over 3m questions received by telephone, video message and email. However, the vast majority of those that made it on air were carefully screened and often came via correspondents sent out to the field – in one case to the construction site of Russia’s new cosmodrome, where workers have been on hunger strike for not receiving their salaries. Putin promised to stay in personal contact with one of the workers and make sure they were paid. The first hour of the phone-in covered mainly economic matters, with a group of farmers speaking from a muddy field about agriculture, and those worried about the failure to use a ban on European imports to promote Russia’s agricultural sector. One of the more surreal moments came when the microphone was given to a man in the studio with a wispy grey beard and a green floral shirt, who turned out to be British farmer John Kopiski, who settled in Russia 23 years ago. Kopiski, who is a self-confessed fan of both Putin and Joseph Stalin, asked Putin about dairy farming in heavily accented Russian. “How did you end up in Russia? Cherchez la femme?” Putin asked. “Sorry I don’t speak French,” said Kopiski, before the question was translated to Russian and he confirmed he did have a Russian wife. The pair then had a long exchange about the dairy industry. Kopiski, although originally from Britain, has Russian citizenship, and in an interview filmed earlier this year with Radio Liberty said he was ready to fight for Russia “against Nato” if necessary. Putin also received a video message from a weeping woman in the region of Khakasia, where a series of fires have destroyed thousands of homes and left many dead in recent days. “Please, we are waiting for help, help us please,” she said to the camera, in tears. Putin announced financial compensation for relatives of the dead and those who had lost property. On international affairs, Putin was reasonably conciliatory. Answering a question about a boycott of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of victory in the second world war this May, he said it was unfair to compare Stalinism and nazism but conceded that some in central Europe are justified in their ambiguous views on the Soviet victory. “After the second world war we tried to impose our model of development on many eastern European countries and did it by force,” said Putin. “We have to admit this. And there’s nothing good about it.” He did, however, add that Washington was now trying to impose its views on the world in a similar way. “They will also fail,” he said. Perhaps the only truly tricky questions were posed by Irina Khakamada, formerly a well-known opposition politician, and Aleksei Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, a liberal radio station. Both were in the studio, and asked about the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov in February. Khakamada also asked whether Russian troops were in Ukraine. Putin said Nemtsov’s murder was a shameful and tragic event and pointed out that investigators had arrested the supposed perpetrators quickly. “As for the question of whether there were people who ordered it and whether it is possible to find them, I don’t know,” he said. Venediktov asked why investigators were not able to question certain suspects. Russian media have reported that Ruslan Geremeyev, a Chechen close to figures around Putin’s man in Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, was a major suspect. After being guarded by armed men in his home village in Chechnya, he is rumoured to have fled the country without being questioned. Putin simply ignored the question. There was no chance for a follow-up about Kadyrov’s potential involvement, underlining the usefulness of the single-question format for the Russian president. He also went unchallenged in his flat-out response that there were no Russian troops active in Ukraine, with no chance for the questioner to present any of the evidence to the contrary. As the presenters wrapped up proceedings, there was time for a “question blitz” session, in which Putin had to give rapid answers to quickfire questions. “Don’t you think your friends take advantage of your good-naturedness?” (Answer: “Not only my friends!”); “Don’t you think you should carry out international negotiations in the banya [Russian sauna]?” (Answer: “I once took Gerhard Schröder to the banya”); “Would you like to be UN secretary general one day?” (Answer: “No.”) After four hours, he left the studio with a stack of handwritten notes and a promise to bring regional leaders to task over the issues that had been raised. If Putin’s appearances are designed to prove one thing, it is that whatever problems might face ordinary Russians, he is not part of the problem, but instead is the only person who can solve them. This was emphasised by one of the final questions, where Putin was asked if he would like a body double. “Would you like to clone yourself? After all, in Russia, nobody trusts any officials except you.” Putin answered modestly: “No.” |