North korea and u. S. Russia relations. Its an hour and a half. [applause] thank you, please sit down. Good morning. , rought something with me start off with our economic performance, if i have the opportunity, im sure well have the time, youve brought me another copy, thank you. So ive got some more info with me, ill try to use your questions to share the most and ant facts with you thats a lot of relevance with hat will happen in the future. So ill try to get to your questions as soon as possible. I dont want to take too much of your precious time. Its a great opportunity for you o do your duty, to can the questions you feel are really relevant for our people. So lets start with questions. Usually the first person to ask a question is a veteran from the chronicle but this year id like to do differently, i would like to give the first question active media most organizations. Thank you very much. I did not expect it. Mr. Putin. Why are you running for president , what is your goal . What is your mission . What do you want to accomplish for russia . What is your vision of russia at the end of your term if you win . Thank you. President putin ive painted my vision of russia many times, there have been events where i spoke and i will say shared my reason during multiple interviews. It should be a forwardleaning russia. It should be a modern country. We need to have a flexible political system. Our economy should rely on hightech and Labor Productivity should increase multiple times. I dont want to talk about my election promises that i should have and will have just like many other candidates, ive almost finalized it, but its not the right time to present it. But here are the main things we need to focus our attention. And its relevant both for the government and for our people. We need to develop our infrastructure, health care, tech, on, and high increasing Labor Productivity and without doubt, our ultimate goal should be to increase income of our people. So thats in Broad Strokes but im sure well go back to these ssues over and over again. Life knews. News. While we were waiting for you announcement for you to declare, there were other people nominating themselves. But they are their rating i think is within the margin of error. Why do you think in 20 years you have been ruling we did not have an influential opposition candidate . Isnt it boring for you maybe to un without worthy opponents . There was a poster that said putin byebye. Im sorry ive got poor eyesight. Serve afraid of me. Means putin babai, it grandpa putin. I have a question about children and language. Hould i ask right now . You know that our republic and many parts of russia had this issue about language, the ministry of education made this decision about minority languages, so we would not we would like to know if you would revisit this issue in a year or two or three. Do you have any plans to consolidate different provinces . President putin number one, i dont think thats the national ssue is really relevant one. And what were doing about the languages is to ensure one goal, every child needs to have a level playing field. So you just raised the question about tapastan, i have a lot of friends there. Hey dont always they dont only live there, they live in other russian regions. Everyone should have a level playing field. I think its important to know your Mother Tongue, the Mother Tongue of your ethnic group. But should also learn russian. If you take russian, your biggest universities, you know training is done in the russian language. This dren that live republic should know the russian language well to be able to study at a russian university. Same applies to the chechen language and other languages. For different ethnic groups. Thats something that we need to cherish. Omething we need to support. Consolidation . No. We have to admit that after certain events after the collapse of the soviet union in the 1990s, you know, we have to admit that many of the regions were formed and established randomly and some of the regions economically do really poorly. Economy wise, it sometimes makes sense to consolidate regions. To take these republics with an ethnic majority, again, heres my signal, we werent going to impose anything on those regions because that would have detrimental effects on the unity of russia. Each ethnic group needs to find coexisting with the russian people that they find most appropriate. So we dont have any national, any state plans to consolidate regions. Now back to your question on no opposition candidates that would be strong enough. The simplest answer would be them for myself . Ive been thinking a lot about the fact that our political system just like our Economic System should be a competitive one and that is my goal. Id love to have a balanced political system. Ompetition is vie vital. We dont have high profile opposition figures and they dont theyre they cannot compete with those in power. Russia is a specific, very. Ecific country young people dont really remember what happened back in the 1990s and the early 2000s. They cannot compare with what we have today. We do have a lot of problems here today and we come together to talk about problems, you know. Wear any rose tinted glasses. But take our g. D. P. Our g. D. P. Has grown so fast since the year 2000, industrial roduction has grown 60 . And g. D. P. Grew 75 . Ndustrial production by 70 . Manufacturing by has been growing really fast, like 60 . Real wages slowed down due to the crisis in the last three years. But since the year 2000, real wages have grown by 3. 5 times, ension has grown by 3. 6 times, child death mortality rates cut maternity mortality decreased by four times. Weve also reversed the demographic trend. We do have some problems here but nevertheless we managed to reverse that trend so we have we had two downward slopes but we will take additional measures, i will talk about it today, im sure well be able to go back to normal, Life Expectancy was 65. 3. Right now its almost 734. 73. We were living in a state of civil war for a long period of of a ix years, 10 years civil war. When 18yearold boy, untrained, unqualified, were sent to the front lines and now fast forward to today when we have a strong army and debt is down by three times. And our countrys reserves have grown by 30 times, thats an outcome, thats an achievement. As for the opposition, they shouldnt just arrange protests in the streets and talk about putin regime. They need to talk about efforts to improve our lives. Certainly we could have better and i admit that people have the right to say that we could have better but what about the platforms of opposition leaders . Take a look at them. I feel that theres a lot of doubt about their platforms. Thats the root of the problem. Real they need to present enda, not an agenda based on buzz or protest. Im sure we will have such an agenda. Well have an opposition figure sooner or later. Lets continue. I have to let andre, hes been covering the president of the fugs federation for 18 years. Strictly speaking 15 years, but still. Quite a lot. My question is very simple. R. Putin, you are running as who . Let me explain. You can run on your own behalf, you can run on behalf of a movement or a political party. Very briefly, whom do you belong to . And to continue this question, people say that there are some disagreements among your staff as to who will be your campaign manager. Could you please announce the person who will run youre campaign and does it even matter to you . Mr. Putin i will run on my own behalf. Definitely hope that i would be supported by some popular movements, parties, or any other groups that share my views and that endorse my views. Soy really rely on broad support from our people. As for my campaign, we talked about it yesterday, we dont have final decision. As for disagreements, we do have dispute well, do have disagreements, but we are not finalized or anything. Its a technical issue but an important one. I would want to be represented by people who enjoy the respect and who support the policies that the government has been onducting over the past years. Lets go to the right wing over there. Kalinigrad. Mr. Putin, at your annual press conference and sessions, a lot of people come to you with their problems, including personal problems. We all remember the girl, she was only admitted to the hospital after you intervened directly. Why do you think so many people think that you are the only recourse, the only solution to their problems . Why do they think they have to appeal to the president directly and how much time will be necessary for you to resolve all the problems of all the russian people in this kind of Manual Control mode . And my second very brief estion, related specifically recently you were in kalinin fwmbings rad they made a decision about building a new road there. There is another construction project there which is also highly important. The question of funds was resolved for the first road but can the federal government also help us with the second construction project as well. Uilding the road from baltese. Mr. Putin i said the governments priorities the next ears to come should be developing infrastructure. Roads, airports, ports, telecom. Any construction, particularly in a place like kalingrad, will be of a priority to us. We need to finalize what is being done, we need to have that road and additional roads, otherwise kalingrad will not get the roads that it deserves. I cant tell you right now that the decision will be taken tomorrow, we also need to look at the resources that we have at our disposal and the requirements of other regions. So as i said, we do have a list of priorities, infrastructure, health care, education, high tech. And increasingly, income of our and increasing the income of our people. But we need to find sources for t. Its no secret that for the past 12 months we have weekly meet wgs experts and with government officials trying to pinpoint income, those drivers, and many experts agree , you know, weve been you know that some of these resources that theyve been presenting will not yield any results. So when we get down to hands on discussions, really practical discussions, even experts realize that there will be no yield or very little yield so its hard to find those new drivers, new sources of income. So, but its certain that we will definitely work on those projects. Your first question was on ocalled Manual Control. Thats a myth. I think its exaggerated. If you take the russian regions, if you take moscow, central authorities, and ive been head of government for four years. In 1999 and four years just recently. You can in the imagine cannot imagine the work load of the government. Its the toughest job in the executive power. I mean, you cannot really interfere in any issue, you know. We sometimes dont have a clear idea of whats happening in russias regions. We need to have the big picture of whats happening everywhere. But thats why we hold these press conferences. Thats why we have those direct lines. People often criticize them. People often say its a formality, but thats not right. Its the channel of feedback. People get a chance to reach out to the government. And those tools of Manual Control definitely needed to make it more systemic. Following every direct line, i meet with the governor of the russian regions and i present them with a list of problems that the people have voiced. So i dont feel thats bad. Its just an addition to the overall systemic work weve been conducting. Id like to ask a question on International Affairs. Before the recent escalation cycle and tension, we still had events like the u. S. Pulled out of the Missile Defense agreement , then the i. M. F. Agreement has been under fire the i. N. F. Agreement has been under fire. Looking ahead what about the new start treaty . Will it survive . If something happens to it, the arms race, well have to in this case increase the Defense Budget and health care and education will have to suffer. We did not withdraw from the fundamental treaties that are the cornerstone of the international sector. We did not withdraw from the a. B. M. Treaty. It was the United States who did that. Ow we are hearing things about intermediate range missiles. I think this is Propaganda Campaign in preparation for the u. S. To withdraw from, actually, they have factually withdrawn from this treaty already. Theyre accusing us but what did they do . They deployed a Missile Defense system in romania. Nd the way they did it is they deployed launchers there. They moved them from sea to land. And those systems can be easily converted or replaced. Interceptor missiles could be replaced with intermediate range missiles. This process is already under way and if things continue to go this way, nothing good will come out of it. We dont plan to withdraw from any treaty ourselves. , regards the new star treaty states talking they no longer need this treaty. They do talk about this. If the United States does this again, they withdraw from this treaty unilaterally this would have a very negative effect on the international security. As regards our defense spend, we are aware of whats happening in the world. We know what the outcomes of those actions can be. We will maintain our security without starting a new arms ace. There was a second part to the question. My question was if increased defense spending may affect social spending . Its balanced. By a number of limits. First of all we have to ensure our security. And we should not undermine our economy. These are the two factors that shape our military Defense Budget. Ext year human and 1. 4or for maintenance. U. S. Roughly 46 billion dollars in u. S. Dollar terms, 46 billion. Take the u. S. They signed the bill already and thats 700 billion. Thats their military budget. Thats their military spending. Mpare 46 billion and 700 billion. N we afford to have 700 billion . No. 46 billion is might be big for us. You might have heard a joke that those who dont want to feed their own army will feed someone elses army. But thats an old joke. There are new jokes. Heres a new one. Ight be known to some of you former officers, a son comes to a former officer, he asks his son, i used to have this knife, this navy knife. Have you seen this navy knife . I just intapped it for a watch. With a friend of mine. Well, ill take a look, give toyota me. Its a good watch but tomorrow you know the gangsters would come here they would kill me, they would kill your mother, they would rape your sister. And you would come out and say, ou know, moscow time is 12 30. We dont want a Development Like this. So well definitely focus on developing our navy and army. We wont get ourselves dragged into an arms race and we wont disrupt our budget. I suggest we take a combined approach. Thank you, mr. President. Terry moran with abc news. First in the United States, investigations by congress, the department of justice, an the media have uncovered a very large number of contacts between russian citizens associated with your government and high officials of the Trump Campaign. Some of those officials are now being prosecuted for lying about these contacts. All this is not normal and Many Americans are saying, where theres thatch much smoke there must be fire. How would you explain to americans the sheer number of contacts between the Trump Campaign and your government . And second, if i may, its almost been a year since donald trump han elected president. You praised donald trump during the campaign. What is your assessment of donald trump as president after ne year . Ill start with the second part. Whatnot up to me to assess trump has been doing. Its up to those who have elected him. Its up to the american people. And there have been some major achievements even in this short span of time. Look at the markets. The markets are up. Pretty strong. Investors trust the american economy. That means they have a lot of confidence in it, they trust the ecisions by trump. Certainly we have a lot of respect for the opposition in the u. S. Those who oppose donald trump. But you know thats an objective outcome. There have been some things that hes not been table execute like the health care reform, international relations. Hes been promised to improve relations with russia. Even if he wanted to do that, he is not able to due to specific restrictions. But does he still have the decision . Maybe he doesnt have it. You have to ask him. But i hope he still has that desire because its in the interest of the russian and american nations. I hope that we will overcome shared threats, terrorists, terrorism, environmental issues, i hope we can Work Together on hem. Weapons of mass destruction proliferation. Middle east. North korea. Other issues. There are other issues where we can work much better when we ork jointly. Thats pretty much it. How would you explain it to america . That has been invented by those who are in the opposition. People who oppose president delegitimize his time in office. It really seems strange to me because they dont understand it seems that they dont understand. Nationdermined their own. Of themit the powers president who has been elected. It means they dont have respect for those people, those americans who elected donald trump. Ine any Election Campaign the world. Should we stop, should we ban any contacts . That happens everywhere. That is general practice, when diplomats and even members of government meet with every candidate with their campaign to discuss some issues, when they are trying to figure out what those people will do, when and if they come to power. What is so particular about it . What is this strange about it . Why do you think why do you have risks by hysteria this spy hysteria . Russian hysteria . The ads that Russian Companies is worth like. 1 or something compared with huge numbers by american companies. You cant just compare it. Even to some, it seems that it is way too much. And take the situation with the. Ussian media, like rt, sputnik their share of the total market is really tiny compared to they haveedia, what been doing globally and in russia. What about the freedom of press . Of the u. S. Ant democracy . Well, someone some are more successful. Some are less successful. You just need to do your homework to draw the right conclusions. We should not attack each other. So, lets think about it and draw the right conclusions. Ok, lets move to the other wing. Associated press. With your permission, i will ask the question in english. The u. S. Wants russia to do more to persuade north korea to halt its missile programs. Would russia support tougher sanctions against north korea . And do you think that cooperation on north korea could warm up u. S. Russia relations . Or have you lost hope of mending them under mr. Trump . Thank you. You are interesting people. Really. That youroticed , theyssman, your senators look so handsome. Shirts, andes and they seem to be smart people, but they put us on the same shelf with north korea and iran, and at the same time, they asked the u. S. President to address the issues of north korea and the Ukrainian Nuclear program together with this. [applause] interpreter are you ok . It looks weird. It just is not make much sense it just does not make much sense. Unlike thatpolicy, of certain other countries, is not nearsighted without looking at our immediate goals. We work with everybody on critical security issues. We dont get offended. We dont act arrogant. We dont hold any grudges, even when some people make certain decisions. As far as north korea is wecerned, our position, dont recognize north korea as a nuclear state. We think all the things happening there are counterproductive. Basically, there was an agreement with north korea in 2005 that they will suspend their Nuclear Program and they made certain commitments, and everybody was happy. We all agreed and signed this agreement. A few months later, the United States decided to go beyond this agreement. They froze their assets, their bank accounts. They said north korea should do something in addition to this agreement, something that goes beyond that agreement. North korea then withdrew from this agreement and relaunched its Nuclear Program. Why did you do that . This agreement was not enough . Why did you sign this agreement if it was not enough . You provoked north korea to withdraw from this agreement. There was libya and iraq mentioned as many times. To north korea, this is the only way of selfpreservation. They have to have wmds and missiles, and now they have a missile that can reach the United States, apparently. Apparently. So what good came out of it . Should stoph sides so we,ing the situation i think, we heard from the United States that they would stop military drills. No, they have another military exercise, and north korea responded by launching another missile. You have to stop at a certain point. You have to stop this from spiraling. Extremely dangerous. We told the United States about this. Even if you suppose the united dates launched some kind of strike against north korea, even conventional weapons. Where are you going to strike . Does the cia know specifically what shargh if they have to hit . Of course not. North korea is a closed country. There are things he may know about it and things you dont know. If north korea launches its missiles, consequences will be catastrophic. We know that there was an instance when the United States used Nuclear Weapons. The u. S. Used Nuclear Weapons against japan. Even back then, i think it was unwarranted. But now, this will be extremely dangerous if they do this with north korea. Withard a recent statement Rex Tillerson and this is really encouraging. There have been some shifts with the state department, maybe the cia intelligence services. If we all proceed from common this, ofl caps like course we will cooperate with the United States on all issues, including north korea. Ok, there was a question. I think ukraine is not far from russia as well, so lets take a question from ukraine now. [speaking in a foreign language] interpreter thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. Ukraine is far away. We are only printed with acquainted with this. You dont always reply to all of my questions, so you did not hide the fact that you were. Ending some assortment what we mean is they kill ukrainian citizens. We know what we have to do with them. Some are killed, but some get jailed in ukraine. Some are taken prisoners. Swap yourwant to citizens . Ukrainians do not leave their men behind. We want to get back our 65 people. It is not just him. Dozens of crimeans. If you win the election, will you continue to pursue this absurd policy on the socalled peacekeepers . There, appointed by you, they are conducting a massacre. You might remember may have been liberated by the Ukrainian Army and the lead a free and flourishing life. Take another question. Interpreter one about the minsk agreements . It seems we are all too far away from resolving the situation. Can they still be used . Systemic regular meetings between u. S. And rush russian officials on ukraine. Peacekeepers . E i have a question on a ukrainian politician. What is his future role in ukraine . What are the prospects for the ukrainian for ukraine in general . [speaking in a foreign language] interpreter that is for the minsk agreements. Unconstructive position of the current key have authorities kiev authorities. They dont want to launch a political process. And again, the ultimate goal is. O have a law there has been a law that was approved by the parliament on the special stages, but it is not being enforced due to a number of reasons. We know the provisions of the law. As for the u. S. , the u. S. Is a of theedged member resolution process. Whether they are part of the normandy format or not. If they deeply engaged have a lot of information. Do we need to formally incorporate them into that format . Well, i have never posed that decision, but it is not up to us to agree or not on that. Now, i would like to reply to that you raised. Well, you speak russian fluently, so it means that mentallywise, it is not that far away from ukraine. If you dont take the geographic principle. [applause] interpreter as for the tragedy in ukraine, that is a tragedy. With you, fully agree with you. Again, what has been the reason for it . That was the coup detat, the unconstitutional takeover of power. An armed one. Some part of ukraine disagreed with the post. Ukraine said it wanted to move towards europe, but the authorities started to use special services and then, they launched a fullblown army operation. Troopsre no russian army re, but there are militia groups that are selfsufficient and are ready to counter any busr offenses against them against them. We agree that this fully meet the interests of the people who reside in those territories. Why . Because if they dont have this opportunity, the massacre that you just raised will be worse than the other massacre. That will be conducted by the socalled nationalist battalion. Ukrainian nationalist battalion. Nothing would stop it. Some of the europeans recommended me to turn to International Human rights groups, but you know, those nationalist battalions will not be stopped by those International Human rights groups. As for the peacekeepers, mr. Poroshenko talked about the need officials. I agreed with it immediately, but the oac said no. They said they dont have this experience. They dont have the stuff. And they dont want to give and arms to their officials because they would be the victim. It would become the targets for both sides. Then, mr. Poroshenko said the u. N. Forces should protect the security of the osc officials. I agreed with that. We even submitted a draft resolution. Troops tofficial officials. We had a telephone conversation with mr. Merkel who said they ms. Merkel. Should not be troops on the disengagement line, and she asked me to agree to the deployment of u. N. Troops on the border of ukraine and russia, and i told her i agreed, our securityed council resolution. It turns out, it is not enough, still. That basically, it just wants to underhat territory international control. We dont have anything against kiev but it is up to the authorities. They should agree with the leaders of those territories. Again, no International Mediation in the World History has been able to resolve those issues. Butct contacts are needed, authorities have been trying to avoid them. Prisoners,s of exchange of prisoners, i agree that people have suffered a lot, and there are many innocent people. Do you really feel like that is done . Just yesterday, they were shelled by the Ukrainian Army. That was it not the army but some nationalist battalions . Usdont know who shelled yesterday. Relations good between the nationalist battalions and the regular Ukrainian Army. But you know, it true officers, they have the ultimate goal to protect their nation from outer threat, from external threat. They should not be engaged in some domestic conflict. As for the exchange of prisoners, he is in charge of it poroshenko. Monasteryinvited to a his leveragehe use with leadership of the two unrecognized republics so that they agree to that exchange. We have the conversation. Member chinook then he gave a list of 67 people on one side and 300 plus on the other side. Bys was at least provided the ukrainians and they all agreed to it, so that is how it was, but the myth that it is bad. We need to modify that, and they froze everything once again. Just lets do it. We can take the next step later on. Christmas coming. New year is coming. Lets do this. Lets make this goodwill gesture. Ist he has been doing spending in the face of the georgian nation and spitting in the face of the ukrainian nation. He was a person who was president of an independent state. Now, hes running around squares and saying im a ukrainian. He has been shouting he is ukrainian. Does he not have true authentic ukrainians . She has been putting up with it. It is so pathetic. My heart is bleeding when im looking at it. How far or close we are, you might disagree. Every person has their own opinion. The hispanic world has their ups and downs. Russia has gone through its own ups and downs, composed of like 16 or 32 slavic tribes, but russeally, the nation of came for us and kiev was the center of that nation, and that gives me reason to think fundamentally, we are one and the same nation. Developed, ukraine was really close to a western border. And it developed in its own way. Certainly, it has a lot of identity. And russiad culture loves that. They feel that it is part of its own culture. Take the 19th century. Said thateople ukrainians to be dependent, needs to have its own path. Do they have the right to say so . Perhaps yes. That was part of the empire where, you know, there was some policy to introduce the russian language or the russian culture to impose it on the ukrainians. But back then, we did not have line in the passport as nationality. Ukrainians were no different russians. From ukraine joined the russian empire in 1645. There were three regions. Kiev, three regions. They have been part of the russian empire for a long time. Thethanks to being part of russian empire, got many new lands. We had the russianturkish war. World war i, world war ii. Decided the bolsheviks that all territories around ukraine should belong to the newly established republic of ukraine. Western regions were incorporated into it. In 1954, crimea was incorporated into it, in violation of the legislation that was in place back then. Was an illegitimate, illegal decision. What follows is a referendum by the ukrainian people. You will leave those behind. Some all have said ukraine should develop an independent state. Fine. If people think so, fine. You need to support it. It is counterproductive to go against the will of the people. World,e trends in the and we have seen a reverse trend. People of different identities, to culture, differently which is, are coming together different languages, are coming together. The same is happening in europe and asia, everywhere. So we need to come to an. Nderstanding what is good for both of us and counterproductive for both of us. , but wetore us apart need to come together. Hello, mr. Putin. Chineseent international radio, and china russiaapp. App. Rch 20 chinarussia russia will hold a president ial election. Do you think the outcome how would the outcome of this election impact the russiachina relations . Or do you think that our Strategic Partnership is above shortterm political situations . We will take this question as well. Thank you. Interpreter thank you, mr. President , i represent the news agency. Chinaknow, russia and decided to align their initiatives of 101 road of one belt, one road. Would you please comment on the results of this work after the last year, how would you assess the results and the prospects of developing relations between russia and china . Communist party of china has set the goal to develop new international relations. One future based on the quality and mutually beneficial relations. What do you think about that . Is russia ready to have cooperation with china in the school . This goal . Of all, of the decisions taken by the communist , myy, just recently assessment is very positive. And that fully corresponds or is as amilar to what we offer Development Platform for russias role in the world. All, that economic operation, chinese economies being grown really fast, and that has been thanks to the decisions that have been made in the past 10 years. Leader and his predecessors. Wants to be a stable country, and they want to ensure development. The incomes ofe their people grow. China is a Strategic Partner for russia. Trade turnover. More than 63 billion. To theen down due situation in the economy, globally. Have even awill better result very soon. As for the alignment of the you , oneelt of the one belt road initiative, and the economic union, it is fully so we would like to take part in the broader corporation in asia. Some progressn made even today. Earlier, i responded to a question on the arctic. China has been really interested in the northern sea route. Our ultimate goal is to provide to asia andment europe and from europe to asia. That, you would be economically more efficient. And we would like to make sure that china makes use of those benefits. Has Major Projects in the arctic, just relaunched the line of the first stretch. F the project 16. 5 million tons. And that is an annual output. That is one of the major investors. There is a reason for it. China is interested economically, and we will also cooperate on other projects. Supplies, we have another great project. Some highspeed transit. Well, that is what it is all about. We do support this. Link fromtransit europe viastern russia. Increase the speeds of transit , goods andd Services People multiple times. We have aviation, space exploration. Im sure were moving the right way. We are fully determined to go that way. As for the election that will take place next year, i have that cooperation with china is beyond any political agenda. We will always remain partners for a long period of time. One of the veterans. Putin, our people talk a lot about your future time in office , but what kind of team will you have for the next six years . Everyone has been talking about this. So will the existing government survive . Will all of those ministers still be in their places . What will be the new agenda, the new blueprint . As regards the current cabinet, on the whole, i believe they are doing a good job, even though there are certain issues like i just mentioned. The utilities actor, for example. This is one problem that needs to be resolved. There are many other issues as well that require attention, but on the wall, i would say the government has been performing quite well, and i would describe the results of its work as satisfactory. By the way, the fact that our is also a growing good indicator. It indicates the government is doing a good job. Macro Economic Indicators of foundation for future development. Of course, otherwise, there would be no foreign direct investment, because all of this comes as a result of growing trust. Trust in the policies pursued by the russian government. As regards the future, i hope you will not be offended, but its premature to talk about this. We should discuss this after the election, even though of course i have some preliminary ideas. Wait a second. Just a second, please. Just a second. There was a question next to ukraine. There was a question from poland. Lets take a question from poland. [speaking a foreign language] last year, and i asked you about the remains of the polish aircraft. Will the crash, when remains of the aircraft be returned to poland . You werepects saying paused on the investigation into that crash. There had been some reports that there was some explosions on board the airplane, and the defense minister says there has been some evidence and has got his own commission. And you say some of your operatives provoked that crash. Listen. We are tired of this bluff. It is just nonsense. It just does not make any sense whatsoever. Let me remind you. I was the Prime Minister at the time, and i had nothing to do with Foreign Policy and security agencies. Please. I remember about that. Then, if there was an explosion on board, where did they take off . In moscow . No, in warsaw. Some russian agents planted a bomb. You should look among your own people than. Number three, there has been no explosion on board. Both russian and polish birth have looked into this. They studied everything that happened inside the cabin. There was somebody who went into the cockpit, and the pilot said there is no way we can land there. No, i wontsaid tell him that we can land. Go ahead and land. It is a disaster. Withre mourning together you, and now, you are try to speculate about this incident, this tragedy. And the situation with the debris of the crash is the same. If there is a problem, if there is a tragedy, you should treat it as if it is a tragedy. Speculate about this. We should not politicize the issue. Why are you doing that . Do you want to competent relations between russia and poland further . Why . What for . Just to score some political points for some Political Forces inside poland . I think russiapoland relations are more important than shortterm politics. Different Political Forces fighting in poland, using russia as a policy issue. You should open a new chapter, of the the interests polish nation and the people of poland. Holding onto these problems and undermining russiapoland relations will not serve your interests. Look at how many jobs he lost and how much money you lost because of those sanctions. We dont need anything from poland. We just want to develop our relations with poland. I hope that this approach will prevail in poland as well. News agency, interfax. Booster prudent mr. Putin, i have a question on syria. I will try to be short. There have been multiple contacts on the syria crisis that you have advanced. What are the main barriers, the main pitfalls on the path to resolution and reconciliation . , or whold be in charge can take up the burden of restoring the infrastructure . You said isis and syria have been defeated. Why do we need russian bases there . Do we have a concern that our western counterparts could solely as ais move support our side in power . How did it happen . Did the syrian army provide security on the Russian Air Force . When will you finalize the withdrawal of Russian Troops from syria . I am from the news agency. 1999, a you came here and theated, countered incursion of interests,. Nternational terrorists the same happened now in syria. I dont think that that has been dismantled completely. You are one of the leaders fighting. The u. S. Has not been giving us the right kind of examples. How can we find and destroy the properties of isis and any other terrorist groups . [speaking in a foreign language] i am not as popular work on International Affairs and education. Base. Over to the air you know, whats your name . [speaking in a foreign language] interpreter the first russian who came to the base by foot. Where did you come from . Interpreter by foot. Its a dangerous route. Where did you come from . Interpreter i was born in the chechen republic. The chechens can travel on foot in syria. Interpreter i went to the refugee camp. So many orphans. Went to istanbul. You have barefooted syrian children running around, begging for money. Camps, you refugee have syrians. Dont have any Education Programs right now. I was witness to it. But we dont to hisat happens children in 15 years. Following your announcement to the defeat of isis and syria, about we think perhaps the massive humanitarian systems . The Russian Center in damascus was shut down. Just like your press secretary, i graduated from the institute of asian and oriental studies. If you instruct me, give me the mandate, i am ready to go there and chair that center. I think we already have a person from chechnya who is doing this kind of work, and his helps evacuatehe children from there. This is no joke. Please sit down. You are totally right. This is a problem. Suffers the that most from this problem because the bulk of refugees go to turkey. Turkey has the biggest refugee camps. Not just turkey. Jordan as well. We are aware of problems with migrants. We certainly need to draft this problem, and i dont think syria can resolve this issue on its own. Know, all the people around the world should realize that unless we join our forces in addressing this issue, this problem will end up on their on their porch as well, unless these children are properly educated and get proper of ringing. Do you know where terrorists recruit their new people . The poorly educated. This unfair treatment is the biggest source of new recruits for terrorists. We certainly need to do something about that, but syria cannot resolve this problem on its own and russia cannot resolve this problem on its own, so we are ready to contribute, but we can only be part of the international effort. Thank you for your question and your initiative. This is no joke. I do not roll this out. Justight do some work from for example, our mts the northern caucasus. Our military police officers, it was my initiative. I suggested we some people from asthern caucasus to syria military police because most of them are sunnis and the local populations are sunnis. And local administration, trusts them. Personnel, andan sunnis, and it is quite good that they are disciplined, good guys, disciplined. They were aware of this and did their, job very well representing affairs. This part is also very important. It is very important for our specialists like yourself to be involved there. As far as my trip to the air base is concerned, it was obvious to me that i had to go there. The only question was whether conditions were right for such a trip. We had to finish fighting those terrorists groups. Now finally, we have the situation which allowed for such a trip. Terrorist groups have been defeated. Securities were taking care of by our troops on the ground. Specialists know that the most dangerous part of this is when you land and when you take off. You. Is where they can hit wheresaw those pilots they were below our plane when they landed. As military aircraft, the temperature is much higher than on they basically protected missiles, they shoot at us from any potential attacks, and i am grateful to thoughr doing this, even i think this may have been unnecessary, but still, they protected us in such a way that they did this, flying lower than we did. Before landing. You resolve this issue entirely. In syria, you need to increase the welfare of people. You need to address historical injustices in the middle east and throughout the world. Generally speaking, in and other places, it is important for all the parties involved, for all the global players, to have no desire, no temptation, to take a terrorist,some quasiterrorist, and radical groups to achieve their shortterm goals. When they created al qaeda to fight the soviet union in afghanistan, eventually, al on 9 11. Acked new york , we can see our fighter pilots, our drones. They can tell those terrorists , to theping to iraq territories controlled by our u. S. Partners. And they dont hit them, why . Because they want to use them later. This is not a very easy way. It is extremely dangerous, including those who do this. [speaking in a foreign language] interpreter i represent the russia today network. Initially, i wanted to ask you about the personal contact with donald trump, but you mentioned the subject twice. If they had singular and plural english language, would you be using singular you was mr. Trump . Question about sanctions and counter sanctions, how far are you ready to go, and how does this affect situation with media in russia . One more question, briefly. Trial, aere was a , heer who has many children was tried for putting a gps tracker on his cow. Presswatching this conference. Even though this case is still peoplet, last year, 200 he ordered gps tracker in china and put it on his cow to track the cow so it does not get lost. Is it banned . Yes, there is an article in the criminal court. I did not even know that there is such a provision in the criminal code. I will definitely look into it. Definitely look into the destiny of those people. Gpsve heard that they put and trackers to cats, but i dont understand what the problem is all about. Did he have to pay for it and he did not pay . I need to look into it. Back to the first part of your question. We are on good terms with mr. Trump, but we call each other by their name. Well, i think we would use to what you referred to as the singular form. We need to maintain business contacts. We need to we have had two telephone authorizations. We are entrusted by our people to lead the country, so i hope that gradually, he would have more in more opportunities to improve ties with russia. And i hope that he will definitely fulfill his election promises. That was one of his promises. Thank you very much. I have a very short question. Could you please comment on could you please say a few were ouriraqikurdistan relations with russia. How russia plans to develop relations with Iraqi Kurdistan . So you know what happened you ran a referendum on independents, and then the leader said the implementation to be delayed. It was not our decision. It was your decision. Then he would step down. It is still in place. What is our response, what is our stance . We believe there should be no drastic moves. Everything has to be in line legislation. We need to expect the position of iraq. Operate in iraq and kurdistan. We hope this is for the benefit of iraq, kurdistan, and the russian economy. Good,l, we had very trustworthy relations. I do understand the complexity of the issue. I do understand it is a really we believeblem, but barriers, noe no barriers that prevent us from improving and maintaining good time for the rocky couldnt stand with Iraqi Kurdistan. [speaking in a foreignlanguage] my name is natalia. I will change my question. You talked about uniting the nation. We need an idea. Let me give you an example. In the 1960s, people from different nationalities moved there, brought together by one idea to produce oil for the country. This goal united people. Maybe you should look into this experience. Of course, we cannot replay history. You can come up with a megaproject that wont bring everyone together. We need to consolidate the nation and to continue with this subject. That was your question about oil. All the people have their tricks. Some ask about fish, but you know. The district will turn 90 years old saying. People who live there are real heroes. How about this . How about rewarding people giving them the title, declaring. His area a hero area my last question to you is veteran oil workers wanted you to sign an autograph for them. Just a few words. On the table, there are some papers on your desk. Here is how we will do it. Im going to do it. And then you need to get in touch with him, ok . I will reply to your question. Lets have a question on oil. And then, afghanistan. I am not going to cheat. Thank you for giving the benefit. Many companies asked for the same. Other oil fields need to benefit as well. You are very selective. We all know who this person is. He is currently in a dispute with the stem of systema. This selective approach we see everywhere, the most influential person gets it all. Gets everything. All the other companies can do nothing. It is very selective and depends on the person. Do we agree we have this problem . Floodedree reservoirs. You are the only person who feels that everybody thinks this. It is him who took this decision. These decisions are taken not they are taken based on major consultations and discussions and analysis of of that oil field. I just signed those decisions, but it is the ministry of energy drafting those decisions. They take a look at the water flooded oil fields. Perhaps you are right. Again, we need to address the ministry for their rationale. We do have some economics in my executive office. It does mean that only the privileged get everything. We need to take a broader look. The executive office feels that this was a fair decision. Again, it is up to the ministry of energy and the Economic Development ministry to discuss this. We would be ready to support any other decision. The question on afghanistan as promised. [speaking in a foreignlanguage] interpreter recently, you and donald trump had a telephone conversation in which you discuss the situation in afghanistan, including the growth of terrorist activities and increasing drug threats. My question is, what do you think about the prospects of working together with the United States in not addressing these issues in afghanistan . It is one of the areas where unite our assets with , and in case that happens, our efforts would be much more efficient. We do see growing threats in afghanistan coming from international terrorism. Groups are taking in thed more territories north of afghanistan, is that zbekistan. U as you know, we have a military. Ase we have an air base in turkestan. We are closely monitoring the developments on the ground. Kabul need in international assistance. We are ready to provide support, just as we did previously. Including in training the army and specialists and in providing military hardware without economic support. Struggling would be issues inemaining drug production and drug trafficking. Afghanistan is one of the major producers of drugs, including heavy drugs and some of it is then found here in russia together with other countries, including the u. S. We are ready to Work Together to overcome those issues. Cspan, where history unfolds daily. In 1979, cspan was created as a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies, and is brought to New York Times reports that it was divided among party lines. The two democratic commissioners warned of consumer harms to come from the changes. Next on cspan, we will show the debate and the boat and the press Conference Held afterwards. Will also showed some of the protests held outside the washington dc headquarters