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Russian President Vladimir Putin held his traditional marathon press conference on Thursday. Unlike other years, the current conference, the sixteenth in number, was held in virtual format, as required by the new coronavirus. Evidently, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was a subject of doubt for journalists, both Russian and foreign, who gathered in front of a giant screen at the Moscow International Mall. From the presidential residence in Novo-Ogariovo, near Moscow, the Kremlin leader answered 60 questions over four hours and 29 minutes. Apart from the pandemic, he wanted to speak especially about relations with the United States, developments in Belarus and the Republic of Moldova, and the sensitive case of Navalny. It was a new opportunity to position yourself in a favorable light. And he did it with his characteristic style, launching accusations, criticisms, ironies and forced comparisons.
Willing to get vaccinated against COVID-19
Russia has faced an “ocean of problems” this year, Vladimir Putin said.
Despite the challenges, he continued, “we can say with certainty that we have treated him with dignity.” “Perhaps better than other countries in the world that have stable economies, as well as developed social and health services,” he concluded his idea of managing the pandemic by launching a first dive in the West.
When asked if he would be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Kremlin leader said he would “do it as soon as possible.” “I listen to the recommendations of the specialists,” he said.
Vladimir Putin, 68, is protected from the new coronavirus by special disinfection tunnels and undergoes regular tests, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin leader did not conclude the COVID-19 issue without praising the Sputnik-V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleia Institute in Moscow. According to him, this COVID-19 vaccine officially registered while it was still being tested, which has aroused much criticism and reluctance, is safe and effective.
PHOTO EPA-EFE
Bidder with Biden
Another major theme of the conference was the future of Russian-American relations in the context of the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States. Putin said he was willing to work with Biden and said Donald Trump would continue to influence the United States.
“We hope that all or perhaps not all, but at least some, of the problems will be resolved with the new US administration,” he said, referring in particular to the New Start Treaty on Nuclear Disarmament.
The Russian president is one of the few world leaders who waited for the American Electoral College vote in favor of Joe Biden to congratulate him on the victory. He justified his refusal by claiming that the outcome would be uncertain, an approach also adopted by Trump. Biden has vowed to be firm with Russia, accused of meddling in the US electoral system to favor the 2016 election of Donald Trump at the expense of Hillary Clinton. An accusation rejected by both Trump and Putin. “It is speculated that the objective is to damage relations between Russia and the United States,” the Kremlin leader insisted on Thursday.
Referring to Trump, Putin said he would not retire from public life: “He has no reason to look for work. Almost 50% of the US population voted for him. He has a large base in the United States and, from what I have understood, he is not preparing to leave politics. “
On Maia Sandu: “She is also a citizen of Romania”
Moving on to hot topics in countries near or neighboring Russia, Putin wanted to focus on the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the protests in Belarus, and the election of the pro-Western Maia Sandu as president of Moldova. It says Russia is ready to supplement its military contingent on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, after implanting them at the end of nearly two months of bloody clashes between the two sides. Regarding the protests in Belarus, he acknowledged that “some countries of the former Soviet Union are undergoing a transformation.” However, he says, “they must come from within,” suggesting that Belarusians would be manipulated by foreign interests.
When asked about Maya Sandu’s request for Russian troops to withdraw from Transnistria, Vladimir Putin resumed the speech as if Moscow wanted this but couldn’t because of others. He reiterated that the withdrawal from Transnistria will be possible when there is an appropriate context and a “normal dialogue” between Chisinau and Tiraspol, or there are no signs of equality between a capital and a host city of a separatist entity. He also claimed that the West was to blame for keeping its troops there: “We are for that (for the withdrawal of the military, ed.). We came close to doing it with President Voronin, but at the last moment, the representatives of the western states put pressure on him. He refused and withdrew from the agreements we had, and solutions to the conflict were postponed indefinitely. Why? It’s not understandable. I asked my colleagues from the EU: “Why did you do that?” They replied: “That’s what happened.” Putin did not mention the conditions he imposed on Voronin, some of which were unacceptable, according to the communist leader in Chisinau.
Putin also made a vague reference to the fact that the new president of the Republic of Moldova has Romanian citizenship: “What the new president Maia Sandu says is nothing new, because it is not the first time that Russia has been asked to withdraw its troops, and Sandu is and a citizen of Romania ”.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear that Moscow does not intend to comply with Maya Sandu’s requests. The head of the MFA in Moscow claims that the Russian army is in Transnistria to protect the ammunition depots in Colbasna, suggesting that they are in a disastrous state and that there is a security danger if they are no longer under surveillance. Tiraspol separatist leader Vadim Krasnoselski does not even want to hear about the withdrawal of the Russian army. It claims that they guarantee peace and that their departure can only take place once Transnistria’s independence is recognized.
Annoyed by the Navalny case
A very sensitive issue turned out to be the poisoning of the Russian opponent Aleksei Navalny. Evidently, the Kremlin leader rejected international journalistic investigation showing that his main opponent was poisoned by FSB agents who are experts in chemical weapons. Instead, he blamed the American secret services. He also refused to say Navalny’s name and called him a “patient at the Berlin clinic”, but acknowledged that the FSB was following in his footsteps.
“The patient at the Berlin clinic is supported by the American special services. And, as is the case, he must be supervised by the special services (Russian FSB). But that does not mean that he had to be poisoned,” Putin said .
“If it had been wanted (this, n. Ed.), The business would have been completed,” he continued.
FSB agents identified by Bellingcat as linked to the Navalny poisoning
Evocative of the investigation by Bellingcat, CNN, Der Spiegel and The Insider, which presents evidence of FSB involvement, Putin challenges it by resorting to accusations, as Lavrov did on Wednesday. “It is not an investigation, but the legitimation of the content (produced) by the US special services,” he said.
On Wednesday, Sergei Lavrov rejected the investigation of the Navalny case using the method of ridicule. “These articles are fun to read,” said the Russian diplomat.
According to this investigation, which is based on analysis of telephone and travel data, FSB agents specializing in chemical weapons have been targeting the opponent since 2017. They were also present in Tomsk, where Navalny was poisoned with Noviciok. Moscow does not want to open an investigation in this case, as Berlin requested.
When asked about a new term in the Kremlin, following speculation in the press that he suffered from Parkinson’s, Vladimir Putin offered the same answer when he received this question before each term, that is, it has not yet been decided if not another once for the highest office of the Russian Federation. His current term, the fourth in number, expires in 2024, and new constitutional amendments allow him to remain in power until 2036.
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