President Putin: The West 'just wants to pull out the Russian bear's teeth'

President Vladimir Putin said that Western countries only want to squeeze and pull out the teeth of the Russian bear; and affirmed that the Russian economy will recover in just two years, even in the worst-case scenario.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Reuters.

Mr. Putin is holding his annual year-end press conference. This is an event that attracts the attention of the whole world while the Ukraine crisis continues, tensions between Russia and Europe and the United States are high, and the Russian economy is sinking into continuous difficulties.

This is his 10th annual press conference. The length of the meeting is unknown, with a similar meeting last year lasting more than four hours. Today's event was attended by about 1,200 domestic and international journalists.

Economy

Russia's 2014 budget will have a surplus of 1.9% of GDP despite the economic turmoil. "The current situation will force us to diversify the economy," the Russian president said, adding that adapting to lower oil prices was inevitable.

Ruble falls, new challenge for Putin

President Putin said he hoped the ruble's recovery would continue. "I hope that the exchange rate of yesterday and today will be maintained. Is that possible? If oil prices continue to fall, that is also possible," he said.

The Russian president has backed the actions taken by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) to deal with the ruble crisis, but has criticized the agency for not acting quickly enough.

Scene of President Putin's press conference. Photo: Telegraph.

"I believe that the CBR and the government are taking appropriate measures in the current situation. There are questions about the timeframe of these measures, but overall the direction is correct," Mr. Putin emphasized.

Officials had previously said that Russia was facing the risk of recession in 2015. World oil prices have fallen below the $60 a barrel mark, coupled with Western sanctions that have shaken the Russian economy. The ruble has fallen by nearly 50% against the dollar, making people anxious, rushing to withdraw money to buy goods, despite the Central Bank raising interest rates to 17%.

President Putin also affirmed that Russia's stability can only be maintained if the country receives support from its people, and he has felt that support. "Stability is based on the support of the Russian people and there is no more solid foundation than that. Most importantly, there is support for the direction of our foreign and domestic policy," he said.

'Russian Bear Chains'

President Putin warned that Western countries wanted to chain up the "Russian bear", pull out its teeth and finally stuff it.

Putin said Western sanctions were the price Russia paid for remaining an independent state, when asked if Moscow was paying the price for its annexation of Crimea.

"It's not about paying for Crimea. It's about paying for our obvious aspirations to ensure Russia is a nation, a civilization, and a state."

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Reuters.

Putin said that no matter what Russia did, even if “the bear gave up hunting pigs and switched to eating strawberries,” the West would still seek to impose sanctions. “They want Russia to abandon its independent policies on sovereignty, to abolish its nuclear weapons and to give up the rich resources of Siberia – a fate that only a strong Russia can avoid,” he said.

Last year, the Russian president pardoned former billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has now announced his intention to enter politics to become Russia's leader in times of crisis. Asked if he regretted releasing the former billionaire from prison, Putin said Khodorkovsky "has the right to engage in politics" and he still believes the pardon was the right decision because it gave the former billionaire a chance to see his mother one last time before she died.

Khodorkovsky, 51, who headed Russia's largest oil company, has been in prison since 2003 on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement at a time when he was stepping up his support for the opposition to Mr Putin.

Ukraine issue

Responding to a Ukrainian reporter's question about the crisis in the country's delta region, President Putin said that it was Kiev that started the war, not Moscow.

He said those who volunteered to take part in the conflict in eastern Ukraine should not be called “mercenaries” because they are not paid. He also did not answer questions about how many Russian soldiers are in eastern Ukraine and how many have died.

"Of course we will help people as we are doing now. We have sent 10 humanitarian aid convoys" to eastern Ukraine, the Russian president said, adding that the crisis would be resolved at some point and the sooner the better.

"We believe that the bilateral political gap will soon be restored," Mr. Putin said, affirming that Russia needs to resume economic relations with Ukraine.

According to Putin, the announcement of a ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine on September 5 was very important. He had no doubt that President Petro Poroshenko also wanted to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and "he was not the only one" who wanted that.

NATO, Russia-Europe, US tensions

President Putin criticized NATO's eastward expansion since the fall of the Berlin Wall. "Didn't they say that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, NATO would not expand eastward? But it happened immediately," he said.

NATO’s eastward expansion is a serious issue for Russia. Ukraine under the pro-Western president Victor Yuschenko, as well as current president Petro Poroshenko, have sought to join the military alliance, but both have faced opposition from Moscow. This opposition has also made important NATO members, such as Germany, wary.

The BBC reporter asked: "Western countries believe there is a Cold War going on, and you have decided that. It must have been on your orders that Russian troops are on the territory of other sovereign states, first Crimea and then eastern Ukraine. Do you want to take this opportunity to tell the West that you have no intention of waging a new Cold War, that you will do whatever it takes to resolve the situation in Ukraine?"

Putin replied: "You say Russia creates tension. Of course we contribute to this tension, but only in the sense that we are defending our interests more vigorously. We are not groping for anyone's interests, we are defending only ours.

"What are the Americans doing, what about their tactical nuclear weapons? The Pentagon's budget is 10 times larger than ours," the Telegraph reported, citing a conversation in which Mr Putin called Western sanctions against Russia illegal.

According to VnExpress