President Putin: 'I have a campaign strategy for 2018'

This was the affirmation of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the last annual press conference of his third term.

Govorit Moskva Radio was the first media outlet to ask Russian President Putin a question. The station's reporter asked Putin about his campaign goals in 2018 and what he would do if elected.

President Putin. Photo: RT

Russian President Putin did not directly answer this question. Instead, he mentioned the Russian economy and said that the country's economy must rely on high technology. He also stressed the importance of developing infrastructure, health care and education in Russia.

Returning to the election issue, Mr. Putin affirmed that he had a strategy for the 2018 presidential election and emphasized that Russia's political system "needs to be competitive" and give his opponents a chance. However, Russian President Putin said that his political opponents do not have a realistic and feasible election platform like his.

This is the 13th time Russian President Putin has held an annual press conference with the participation of domestic and international journalists. From 2001-2008, the Russian President continuously held annual press conferences (except in 2005). After being elected for a third term in 2012, he continued this practice.

The 2017 press conference will be the last annual press conference of Putin’s third term as president. More than 1,600 journalists are expected to attend the press conference, including international journalists from the United States, Germany, Japan, France, China, Poland and many other countries – a record number compared to previous annual press conferences.

The record for the number of questions Russian President Putin answered from journalists was 106 in a 4.5-hour press conference in 2008. Meanwhile, in December 2016, the Russian President also spent nearly 4 hours answering questions from more than 1,400 domestic and international reporters. The shortest press conference lasted just over 1.5 hours in 2001./.

According to VOV