April 29, 2021
Special Dispatch No. 9311
Putin s Economic Proposals In Federal Assembly Speech Are Endorsed By Loyalists, Questioned By Critics
April 29, 2021
On April 21, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin addressed the Federal Assembly in Russia’s version of the State of the Union Speech. The address was skimpy on foreign and defense policy and devoted primarily to domestic policy and particularly economics. Some like political scientist Marat Borisov claimed that this was a signal of reassurance to foreign countries that Russia was concentrating on its internal problems. “These are important questions that few people expected to hear. There were many skeptics in the country, and in the West, who were expecting ‘fiery speeches’ about out attack on somewhere. But the president stated that we are going to deal with the domestic issues. And this was probably the most important signal heard in the West”.[1]