Putin's Post Council of State Meeting Presser 12/22/2022

Today was yet another busy day for Russia's President Putin. After touring a Youth Exhibition he presided over the annual Council of State Meeting which for the first time since 2009 focused on the implementation of youth policy within Russia. The transcript of that meeting I'll post after the one from Putin's presser following the Council Meeting. As this transcript was being completed, I posted some excerpts at Moon of Alabama and saw the need to place emphasis in a few places. Here I'll leave the text as it is but do want to alert readers to Putin's reference to Galicia since there're so much speculation on what additional territory of the current Ukraine will remain when the SMO closes its Ukrainian phase.

Vladimir Putin: Please.

Yu.Bubnova: Good afternoon!

TASS News Agency, Yulia Bubnova.

To be honest, I would like to start with some summing up. It is obvious that the year was not the easiest and not the most ordinary, but for you, what are its main results?

What have we achieved, what may not have been able to achieve, and how do you see our future, where are we going and what should we come to?

Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: There are never perfect situations. Ideal situations are only in plans, on paper, you always want something more. But in general, I think that Russia has passed this year quite confidently. We have no concerns that the current situation will prevent us from implementing our plans for the future, including for 2023.

I'll say it again: We believe, and I want to emphasize this, that everything that is happening, and everything related to the special military operation, is an absolutely necessary measure. We should be grateful to our military, our soldiers, officers, and soldiers for what they do for Russia, protecting its interests, sovereignty, and protecting our people first of all. They act with dignity, achieve what the country needs.

As for the economy, as you know, despite the predicted collapses, devastation, and catastrophe in the economic sphere, nothing like this is happening. Moreover, Russia shows much better indicators than in many countries of the "twenty", and confidently demonstrates. This also applies to the main macroeconomic indicators, as well as the volume of GDP. Yes, there is a slight drop. I said just recently – 2.9 [percent], according to our and international experts. Now they give a different figure, even less – 2.5 [percent].

One of the main indicators around the world is the unemployment rate. It is lower than in the pre-pandemic period: let me remind you that at that time it was 4.7 [percent], but now we have 3.8 – 3.9 percent unemployment. That means the labor market is stable.

Public finances are stable, and there are no worrying issues here either. All this is not the result of something that "fell from the sky". This is the result of the work of the Government, regional teams, business and the mood in society, which demonstrates unity and the desire to work together to achieve common goals.

So, overall, we feel confident, and I have no doubt that everything we set for ourselves as goals will be achieved.

To. Panyushkin: Good afternoon!

Konstantin Panyushkin, Channel One.

If I may, "in the footsteps" of the State Council. Still, how do you personally assess the results of the implementation of the youth policy this year, bearing in mind how well the Russian youth behaved after February 24?

Vladimir Putin: You know, we always talk about this – that is, not us, look at our classic literature: always "fathers and sons", always the question that young people in any period of development of the country – and, in my opinion, the same thing happens all over the world-young people are always blamed the fact that it is superficial, unworthy of something that everything was better before.

I, on the contrary, believe that young people are always better. Remember the most difficult trials at all times of our history. Everyone said: no, it was then, but now they can't. But they can't do what? All young people can. There are different people in all age groups. But in general, our young people demonstrate, first of all, the desire to move forward, demonstrate a high level of education, training, understanding of the processes taking place in the world, in society, understanding where to go, what is a real value, what should be based on.

I also mean our history, love for the Motherland, for the Fatherland. This is especially true in difficult times.

Remember our difficult events in the North Caucasus. They kept saying: here are the young people, the young people. Let's remember the Pskov paratroopers – here is an example of youth and heroism of young people. And now let's see how young people fight, and how our young people react to what is happening in the special military operation zone, how they support our fighters.

I was in the Arena today – you know, it makes you cry when the kids are there, there are teenagers, and a little older people collect things, write letters, and many go as volunteers-young people too.

Yes, there are different people. There are those who got on the car and quietly drove off, yes. But in general, the Russian youth, I repeat once again, demonstrates, and we can confidently say this, a sense of love for the Motherland, a desire to fight, fight for it and move forward in personal terms and in terms of the country's development.

Alexey Kolesnikov: Good evening!

Kommersant newspaper.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, your Message to the Federal Assembly has not yet been delivered this year, and probably will not be. I, in general, like many people, wrote about this, including the fact that the topic of the Message has flared up in recent days in some formats, for example, at the meeting of the [Council for Strategic Development and] on national projects, and yesterday, I think, also at the expanded board of the Ministry of Defense.

Tell me, why is it like this this year? And what is the future of your Message?

Vladimir Putin: In my opinion, we didn't have a Message in 2017 either, just in the calendar year. But it should be.

The question is what? The problem is that the dynamics of events are very large, the situation is developing very dynamically, so it was very, not very, but difficult to fix the results and specific plans for the near future right at a specific moment in time. We will do this at the beginning of the year, of course.

But the very meaning of the Message is precisely what I have just said. In one way or another, this was reflected in my speeches, in which it was impossible not to talk about it. So, to be honest, it was quite difficult for both me and the Administration to put it into a formal Message without repeating myself, that's all. That is, I have already talked about key things in one form or another, but then I don't really want to repeat myself again.

In order for all this to look solid and fundamental, we need some time and additional analysis of what is happening, what we are talking about and what we are planning for the near future.

We'll do it. I won't give any specific dates, but we will definitely do it in the new year.

K. Golovanova: Interfax, Ksenia Golovanova.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, I would like to ask in connection with Zelensky's visit to the United States and the agreement reached there on the supply of Patriot batteries to Ukraine: can we now talk about the full involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine? What are the possible consequences of this decision? For example, can Russia move its systems closer to the borders of NATO countries or in close proximity to the United States?

Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: You just said: can we talk about a greater involvement of the United States in the conflict in Ukraine? Let me make a joke, I would suggest looking at this problem "shirshe and glybzhe". What exactly and why?

Because the United States has been doing this for a long time: they have long been involved in the processes that took place in the Soviet and post-Soviet space. Even in Soviet times, entire institutes worked in Ukraine, and they were well aware of the history of this issue. There are deep specialists there who are professionally versed in this. I repeat, back in Soviet times, the ground was prepared, people were searched for, meanings were determined, and so on. I don't want to now – this is not the format where you could go deeper into the history of the issue, but nevertheless it is still clear where everything came from.

This is a very delicate issue – the unity of the Russian world. Divide and conquer – this slogan has been active since ancient times and is still actively used in real politics. That's why our potential opponent, our opponents, always dreamed about it and always did it, tried to divide us up and then lead us in separate parts.

What's new here? The idea was born long ago by itself of Ukrainian separatism, still within the framework of a single country. You see, I keep saying this, if someone thinks that a separate ethnic group has formed and wants to live independently – for God's sake, you can never go against the will of the people.

But if this is so, then this principle should be universal, and in no case should we go against the will of that part of the people who feel themselves in a different hypostasis, consider themselves part of the Russian people and the Russian world, believe that they are part of this culture, part of this language, part of this history and traditions. And you can't fight against them either.

And a war was launched against them in 2014-namely, a war. After all, this was discussed. And what is it if the air strikes were carried out directly on the center of cities with millions of inhabitants? And what is it if troops with armored vehicles are deployed against them? This is war, fighting. We all endured, endured, endured and hoped for some kind of peace agreement. Now it turns out that we were just led by the nose. So a country like the United States has been doing this for a long time. Long ago.

In this sense, we can say that today's events, if they led us to this, in this sense, we can say that they have achieved their result. But we also had no other choice than the actions that were launched at the end of February this year. Yes, this is the logic of the development of events, but our goal is primarily to protect people, I repeat once again, who feel part of our people, part of our culture.

After all, we proceeded from what at the time? We assumed that, okay, the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, but-as I said yesterday at the board meeting of the Ministry of Defense-our common historical roots, the roots of culture, spiritual community, they will be stronger than what is pulling us apart, and such trends have always been. What unites us is stronger. No – with the help of outside forces and with the fact that people of extremely nationalistic views actually came to power after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

And with the help of these forces, despite all our efforts, this disunity increased and increased. As I said once before: first we were pulled apart, separated, and then pitted against each other. In this sense, they have achieved results, of course, and we have suffered a certain fiasco in this sense. They didn't leave us anything else: maybe they also deliberately pushed us to this, to this line. We had nowhere else to go, that's the problem.

They were always fully engaged, and they did their best. I don't remember any more, then look through the pages of history, one of the deputies of the tsarist State Duma said: if you want to lose Ukraine, join Galicia to it. In the end, it turned out that he was a visionary. Why? Because people from this part behave very aggressively and actually suppress the silent majority in the rest of this territory.

But, I repeat once again, we assumed that the fundamental foundations of our unity would be stronger than the trends that are pulling us apart. No, it turned out that this was not the case. They began to suppress Russian culture, the Russian language, and divide our spiritual community, and in completely barbaric ways. And they pretend that no one notices. And why? But because they pursue the very goal that I said: divide and conquer.

No one wants to unite the Russian people. Disunion – please, it is with pleasure, they will continue to shred. But no one wants to unite and strengthen-except for us, and we will do it and we will do it.

Military-technical [consequences]. You know what the point is: I said yesterday that the Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov frigate is entering combat service in early January, and new weapons systems are already being developed there.

We are not going to arrange any provocations, but still this is a factor of strengthening our actual strategic forces, although these systems are medium-range, but they have such high-speed characteristics that they give us certain advantages in this sense.

As for Patriot, this is a fairly old system. It doesn't work like, say, our S-300. Nevertheless, those who oppose us assume that this is supposedly a defensive weapon. Well okay. We'll just keep it in mind, and there will always be an antidote. So those who do this are doing it for nothing: it's just prolonging the conflict, that's all.

To.Kokoveshnikov: Good afternoon!

Zvezda TV channel, Konstantin Kokoveshnikov.

If I may, one more question about the special military operation. Traditionally, you are rather stingy about the course of an operation, and you prefer not to go into details, but still: don't you see the threat of a very long-term situation?

Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: You know, I've already said that. In fact, the situation began to develop – it was less noticeable even in our country, and in the West they preferred not to talk about it at all and not to notice it at all-but all this began in 2014 after the coup provoked by the same States, when pies were distributed on the Maidan. I've said this many times before.

But our goal is not to spin this flywheel of military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war: we are striving for this and will continue to strive.

And as for the fact that I don't talk much about it: well, it's only natural. On the one hand, I may not be saying much about this, but the Defense Ministry's briefings are held daily, and they report to our public and the country about what is happening, where it is happening, how, and so on.

Therefore, we will strive to ensure that this is completed and the sooner the better, of course. As for what is happening and how, I have already said many times: the intensification of military operations leads to unjustified losses – the chicken is pecking at the grain.

Alexey Petrov: Alexey Petrov, Rossiya TV channel.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, my question is a continuation of the topic, in fact.

Recently, the idea has been actively discussed in Western political circles, including at the NATO level, that the resources of the West that are transferred to Ukraine as aid are not unlimited, they are, in fact, running out. At the same time, a number of Western experts believe that Russian resources are also running out, that the last missiles and ammunition are about to arrive.

This is a familiar rhetoric, but nevertheless: the state of our military-industrial complex – is our defense industry today able, on the one hand, to replenish the reserves that are needed, and on the other hand, to produce enough to continue a special military operation?

Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: First, I think that the resources of Western and NATO countries are not on the verge of being exhausted. The point is different – the fact is that Ukraine receives weapons from the former Warsaw Pact countries, mainly of Soviet production. This is really close to exhaustion: we have practically beaten and burned everything there. There are several dozens of armored vehicles, a hundred, or something else - on this scale. They knocked out a lot, it's true. This technique is close to being exhausted.

But this does not mean that Western countries and NATO countries do not have other equipment. There is. This is not the question, but the question is that it is not so easy to switch to new weapons systems, including those of the NATO model: we need to prepare, we need to train personnel, we need to have stocks of spare parts, we need to maintain and repair them. This is a big question, and it's not an easy one. First.

Second. There are questions related to the capabilities of the military-industrial complex of Western countries itself. Yes, it is big in the United States, and you can promote it, but even there it is not so easy, because you need to allocate additional money to this account, and this is a question of allocating resources within the budget process. It's not that simple.

Now they say: Patriot can be put there. Well, let them put it – we'll click on the Patriot as well. Then you will need to install something instead of Patriot, you will need to develop new systems. This is a complex, lengthy process, and it's not that simple. We take this into account, we also count everything that appears there, we count where and how much there is still in warehouses, what they can produce, in what time frame, how they can train personnel.

As for our capabilities and our reserves, they are also there, but we spend them, this is understandable. I'm not going to give you figures on how many shells we spend per day, for example. These are big numbers. But the difference between us and those who oppose us is that, for example, the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, if not completely zeroed out, is rapidly moving towards this. Our own database will soon be gone, and we are only growing it. Moreover, as I said yesterday at the board meeting of the Ministry of Defense, we will not do this to the detriment of other sectors of the economy. We don't care, one way or another, as the Minister reported yesterday, we need to meet the needs of our army.

Unlike the same industry in Ukraine, we have developed our industry over the past decades, including the defense industry. We developed our military science and technology. We're still missing something. We see barraging ammunition, drones, and so on, but we have some groundwork. We know who can do what and how much, when, and in what time frame. We have our own financial resources to ensure the operation of scientific and technological centers and the production itself. We have it.

Yes, there is an issue related to increasing the pace and volume. We are able to do this, and we will definitely do it.

A. Gereikhanova: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Aysel Gereikhanova.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, in this situation, as far as possible, are there any real chances for a diplomatic resolution of the situation in Ukraine?

Vladimir Putin: All conflicts, all armed conflicts end in one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track-and we have never refused. This Ukrainian leadership has forbidden itself to negotiate. This already looks somewhat unusual, even strange, I would say. Nevertheless, sooner or later, of course, any parties that are in a state of conflict sit down and negotiate. The sooner this realization comes to those who oppose us, the better. We've never given up on that.

V. Sanfirov: Valery Sanfirov, Vesti FM.

Vladimir Vladimirovich, you have been meeting with the military a lot lately.

Vladimir Putin: Does this surprise you?

Vladimir Sanfirov: No.

Vladimir Putin: Every day, so you understand, every day.

V. Sanfirov: The question of heroes.

When you went to this State Council, you passed Kutuzovsky Prospekt, and nearby were the streets of General Dorokhov, Raevsky, Barclay de Tolly, Vasilisa Kozhina. In principle, the State Council itself was held in that hall, where, if I'm not mistaken, there are also 11 thousand plaques [with the names of] St. George's heroes.

Does a special military operation give birth to national heroes and commanders, do they appear in our lives?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, of course, any armed conflict is associated, unfortunately, with losses, with some tragedies, with injuries, and so on. And, as a rule, you know, and those who pass away, defending the interests of their Fatherland, their Homeland, their people, those who are injured, are the strongest guys. They're ahead. Here's the thing. And, of course, they are heroes. I've talked about this many times. This is my personal deep conviction.

Imagine that: we are now standing in this hall in the Kremlin Palace, we are warm, the sun is shining over us artificially, the lights are on, the interior is beautiful, and the guys are there in the snow, you know?

We talk about insoles in boots and so on, about weapons – and they get under fire and so on. Of course, they're all heroes. This is a colossal work associated with danger to health and life. Heroes, of course. There are those who show special actions that are directly related to what is called heroism, personal heroism. Not just hard work, but personal heroism.

Of course, we are thinking about this and we will definitely do our best to set them as an example for our entire society, as an example for the younger generation for the future. It is precisely such people who strengthen the inner spirit of the nation. It is very important. And they certainly do exist. There are many of them. You probably know them yourself, and some of them we don't even know yet, we haven't mentioned their names, but we will do it without fail.

Maria Glebova: RIA Novosti News Agency, Maria Glebova.

If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to economics.

You said yourself earlier that there was no collapse. But now they say that the main blow will fall on the next year. Please tell me, will you be able to keep the Russian economy going?

You also traditionally meet with captains of Russian business at the end of each year. But this time there was no meeting. Why? Do you see their role in the growth of private investment now?

And I would also like to ask you about the social issue. Will all the social obligations that were promised be fulfilled without fail in the future?

Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: As for the economy, I have already touched on this topic, but I can, of course, probably should add.

First, the predicted collapse of the economy did not take place. Yes, we have a decline, and I will repeat these figures again. They promised somewhere – but they didn't promise, but some people hoped that we would have a reduction, a reduction in the volume of GDP by 20 or more-20-25 percent, some said. This decline in GDP "takes place", but not 20-25, but 2.5 percent. First.

Second. Inflation, as I have already said, will be slightly higher than 12 percent this year, which is also one of the most important indicators. This, I think, is much better than in many other countries, including the G20 countries. It is not good that there is inflation, but it is good that it is less than in other countries.

Next year, as we have already mentioned – based on the results of the economy's performance in the first quarter, or so we hope, we will aim for targets of four to five percent. And this is a very good trend, unlike some other G20 countries, where the trend, on the contrary, is to increase.

Unemployment is minimal at the historical level-3.8 percent. We have a budget deficit, it is true, but it will be around two percent this year, next year too, then it will be one percent, and in 2025 it will be less than one: we expect about 0.8 percent. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in other countries – both large developing countries and countries with so – called developed market economies-the deficit is much larger. In the United States, in my opinion, 5.7, in China-over seven percent. In all major economies, the five-percent deficit is disappearing everywhere. We don't.

This is a good, fundamental basis for moving confidently into 2023.

What is the priority of 2023? Infrastructure development is a must. Probably, it is not necessary to list, there is a lot there: the Eastern Landfill, the North-South road, the development of infrastructure within the country – most recently Marat Shakirzyanovich Khusnullin reported on the construction of roads in the country – and so on. Airports, ports – a lot of things.

Then we need to address issues in the financial sector. In what way? The country's financial system is stable, banks work reliably, they don't allow any failures – by the way, thanks to both the Government and the bank employees themselves, they work hard and competently, they are qualified people, they have almost everything – everything, not everything, but a lot of things work out. We must maintain macroeconomic stability. We will not allow money to be scattered left and right, but, as I have already said, we will strive for those basic macroeconomic indicators that will be the basis for the stability of the economy as a whole.

I mentioned the infrastructure. The next important point is to maintain the stability of the financial system, banking system, and budget. And to do a very important thing-to replace within the country the investments that our participants in economic activity used to use-from some Western institutions, funds, and so on. We need to replace this with internal funding. And of course, we can do this by using various tools, but I won't go into it now. If you have asked a question in the field of economics, your readers probably know what it is about. They exist and need to be developed. This is not an easy task, not an easy question, but it can be done.

Of course, we must resolve the main issue – we need to raise the level of real wages of citizens. This is quite obvious. Taking into account inflationary processes and budget revenues, we are able to take a step in this direction as well. We have a whole set of actions that we need to take in the economic sphere. I have no doubt that all of them are achievable. We will see to what extent we can implement these plans, how we can get closer to solving the tasks we are talking about – we will see by the results of next year.

Maria Glebova: What about big business?

Vladimir Putin: Big business.

Do you understand what's going on? The fact is that I always enjoy meeting with colleagues, but now COVID has started to rise again, and another attack is this swine flu. The only question is this. I mean, I can meet them, just like I can meet you, but they need to get together. They can pose a certain danger to each other from an epidemiological point of view. It's just that. As it is, we are in constant contact with them and will, of course, develop this dialogue.

It's not easy for them. There are different people out there, you know? We know this very well, and the country knows it. First of all, they put everyone under sanctions: Western, pro – Western or non-Western-all under one comb. For what? In order to restore business against the state. But people who live in this country should live in the interests of the country. The country's interests are that they work efficiently, pay taxes regularly, but it is not necessary for everyone to have a ship arrested abroad, or a castle on the Mediterranean Sea or in London.

You see, the point is this: if a person lives here and connects his life, the life of his children, his family with this country – this is one thing. And if a person does not connect his life with this country, but simply takes money out of it, and everything is there [abroad] – then he values not the country in which he lives and where he earns, but values good relations where he has property and money in his accounts. And such people are a danger to us.

But we are loyal to everyone. The main thing is to work effectively. But contacts certainly continue and will continue.

And I want to note that probably not one hundred percent, not every person, but the vast majority of representatives, including large businesses, are patriots of our country, patriots of Russia. Everyone is in their own individual situation, but everyone strives not just to stay and work in Russia, but to work for the benefit of our country, preserving labor collectives, their enterprises, developing the economy, and so on.

N. Babayev: Hello, Mr President!

Nahid Babayev, NTV.

I want to continue the economic theme. Does Russia have any losses due to the introduction of an oil price ceiling? Maybe the oil workers have already asked the state for help and benefits?

And in this regard, one more question. Much has been said about retaliatory measures, and a decree is being prepared. Will the measures provided for in this decree be able to protect our interests?

Vladimir Putin: You know, I think I will sign the decree sometime on Monday or Tuesday. These are precautionary measures, because any individual damage to Russia, to the Russian economy, or to the Russian fuel and energy sector is not visible. We sell approximately and sell at the prices that are set as the ceiling.

Yes, of course, the goal of our geopolitical opponents and opponents is clear-to limit the revenues of the Russian budget, but we do not lose anything from this ceiling. There are no losses for the Russian fuel and energy sector and for the budget economy – there are no losses, because we sell at these prices.

But this is not the case at all, but the fact is that they are trying to screw new tools that are absolutely not inherent in the market economy into the world energy sector and into the world economy. The consumer-buyer tries to introduce into the consciousness and practice of the whole world completely new tools that are not inherent in the market economy, non-market regulation.

Imagine that: You wanted to come and buy, relatively speaking, a Mercedes or Chevrolet. They came and said: I'll buy it for five rubles, and no more. Well, you will buy one, two, three cars, and then Mercedes will close, because the production of Mercedes or Chevrolet will be unprofitable. The same thing is happening in the energy sector, all the same, one - on-one.

This industry is already underinvested. There are already problems here due to the fact that in recent years, due to environmental issues and the transition to renewable energy sources, money has not been invested in new projects – in pipeline projects, in production, in development, and so on. Banks do not give money, insurance companies do not insure. The world's major companies have stopped investing in the amount that is needed for the global energy sector.

And now they are also trying to set the price ceiling administratively. This is the road to the destruction of the world's energy sector. There may come a time when the underinvested industry will no longer provide the necessary volume of products to the market, and then prices will skyrocket and hurt those who are trying to implement these tools.

Therefore, energy producers, in this case oil, take everything at their own expense – not at the expense of Russia, but at their own expense, because everyone believes that this is only the first attempt to impose administrative rules for regulating prices on producers.

A. Lazurenko: Alexey Lazurenko, Izvestia Research Center.

I would also like to continue the topic.

A few days earlier, similar decisions were made on the gas price ceiling. After all, what will be our actions in this context, how much does this threaten us, and what is the fate of the Nord Streams?

Vladimir Putin: This is from the same opera, as I understand it. Again, an attempt at administrative price regulation will not lead to anything good in the gas sector, as well as in the oil sector.

In general, you know, sometimes our colleagues and partners surprise me with their unprofessional decisions. After all, at one time it was the European Commission that imposed on us the transition to so-called market pricing, to exchange pricing for gas. And we tried to persuade them, I personally worked on this, we tried to persuade them in Brussels not to do it, they said that the gas market does not work like this, it will lead to serious consequences, to a surge in prices. This is exactly what happened right now. Now they don't know how to get out of here, and they are trying to regulate gas prices as well.

You know, however, this is a slightly different regulation than the attempt to regulate oil prices. Here the European Commission says more about the need to regulate the situation on the stock exchange. A link is made to LNG, it is said that prices should be correlated with LNG prices, and so on. But this is still an attempt to regulate prices administratively.

You know, they don't listen to us, they don't want us, they don't like us, they fight us. But they should have heard themselves! In this case, I am talking about those who are trying to regulate gas prices in Europe. But they obey the Americans in everything, constantly bow and bend every time they are given a command. There is no team here – just listen to what the American experts say. Friedman, a well-known economist and Nobel Prize winner, said a wonderful thing: if you want to get a shortage of tomatoes, introduce a price cap on tomatoes, tomorrow you will have a shortage of tomatoes. They do the same thing here with gas and oil – the same thing, one - on-one. They don't listen for some reason.

Of course, we are closely monitoring this, observing it and reserve the right, if the whole proposed system develops in the direction of administrative regulation and if it violates our contracts of Gazprom with its counterparties, there will be some interference in these contracts, we reserve the right to think about whether we are obliged to whether we will then fulfill these contracts if the other party violates them.

Nord Streams. What about Nord Streams ? This is a terrorist attack, it's obvious, everyone recognized it. But, surprisingly, this is an act of international, I would say, State terrorism. Why? Because individuals, private individuals, and individuals are not able to carry out such terrorist attacks on their own, without the support of state structures. It is clear that this was done with the support of States.

As they usually say in such cases: see who's interested. Who is interested in the fact that only the line of Russian gas supply to the European market passes through Ukraine, who is interested in Ukraine receiving money? The aggressor is Russia, but they get money from us for transit, and we pay them, despite the fact that they call us aggressors, although they themselves are aggressors in relation to the Donbass. We are countering aggression, not the other way around. They take the money, but nothing. Money doesn't smell.

Who is interested in Russian gas being supplied to Europe only through Ukraine? So he blew it up. No one is investigating. We once had the opportunity to look at these places of explosions. All this was in the press, there is no need to repeat, you already know for sure. But there is no full-fledged investigation, no one is conducting it. Surprisingly, but a fact.

As for oil and gas, do you know what idea came to my mind right now during our conversation and discussion? I've approached this before, but I think it's hard to disagree with what I'm about to say.

Look, they are now trying to limit the prices of energy carriers – oil and gas. Who is the manufacturer? Russia, Arab countries, in Latin America, in Asia, Indonesia produces, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates produce oil. The United States produces both oil and gas, but they consume everything themselves: they have little left for the foreign market. That is, it is produced in these countries, but consumed in Europe and the United States.

In my opinion, what they are trying to do now is such an atavism of colonialism. They are used to stealing and robbing other countries. After all, to a large extent, the rise of the European economy is based on the slave trade and on the plunder of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. To a large extent, the welfare of the States grew on the slave trade and on the use of slave labor, and then, of course, on the First and Second World Wars, this is understandable. But they're used to robbing. And an attempt of non-market regulation in the sphere of economy is the same colonial robbery, in any case, an attempt of colonial robbery.

But the world has changed, and it is unlikely that they will be able to do so today.

Alexander Yunashev: Mr President, hello!

Alexander Yunashev, Life.

I would like to ask you how the events of the last few months have affected your life and daily routine. Do you manage to find time for sports?

Next week is the New Year. In this regard, I would like to congratulate you on the upcoming holidays and clarify how you will spend them.

Thanks.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

There is nothing so unusual here. I will try to celebrate this New Year in the circle of my family, so that close people are close by, I will watch the President's speech and congratulations.

And as for sports, yes, I do, I continue to do. I believe that this is just a means of maintaining physical fitness, and I need to be in a working state. This is such a very correct, good "tablet" in order to feel in working condition. I wish you all the same attitude to sports – it's a good thing. They say that it also helps to preserve your intellectual abilities, so that in a healthy body – a healthy spirit.

Thank you very much.

Happy New Year! All the best!