‘Jaishankar said it best’: Putin talks about Brics, Ukraine, Trump & Syria in annual news conference – Times of India

‘Jaishankar said it best’: Putin talks about Brics, Ukraine, Trump & Syria in annual news conference

Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual news conference and call-in show on Thursday. The event, broadcast live across Russia’s 11 time zones, is a yearly tradition.
Putin uses the platform to address the nation and typically focuses on domestic issues.
Putin began the tightly choreographed session by saying that Russia’s economy is on track to grow by nearly 4 per cent this year. He acknowledged that consumer prices are high, with inflation at 9.3 per cent, but insisted that the economic situation remains “stable.” He stated that many international financial institutions have rated Russia “as number four economy when it comes to purchasing power parity”. He added that “China, United States and India are ahead of us”, while Russia is ahead of Germany and Japan.
The Russian president also hailed his troops’ gains in Ukraine.
Following are some of the key quotes from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual phone-in and news conference.
On Brics
We are not working against anyone. We are working for and favour of our interest and interest of the organisation’s members. We are not trying to build any kind of adversarial narrative or agenda. India & External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said it best: “BRICS isn’t anti-Western. It’s just not Western.”
On Trump
Well, first of all, I don’t know when we will meet because he doesn’t say anything about it. I haven’t spoken to him at all for more than four years. And I am ready for this, of course, at any time. And I will be ready for a meeting if he wants it.
(Addressing a reporter) – You said that this conversation will take place in a situation where I will be in some sort of weakened state. Dear colleague… you and those people who pay your salary in the United States would very much like Russia to be in a weakened position. I hold a different point of view. I believe that Russia has become much stronger over the past 2-3 years.
On PM Modi
I Have Warm Relations With PM Modi. The President said he has a “lot of friends” in Asia – amongst them India and China.
On willingness to negotiate with Ukraine
We have always said that we are ready for negotiations and compromises, it’s just that the other side, both literally and figuratively, refused to negotiate…
Soon, those Ukrainians who want to fight will run out, in my opinion, soon there will be no one left who wants to fight. We are ready, but the other side needs to be ready for both negotiations and compromises.
On Russia’s new Oreshnik Hypersonic missile
There is no chance of shooting down these missiles…
Let Western experts propose to us, and let them propose to those in the West and the US who pay them for their analysis, to conduct some kind of technological experiment, say, a high-tech duel of the 21st century. Let them determine some target for destruction, say in Kyiv, concentrate all their air defence and missile defence forces there, and we will strike there with Oreshnik and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment, but is the other side ready?
On the war in Ukraine
I must say that the situation (at the front) is changing dramatically… There is movement along the entire front line. Every day…
And we are moving, as you said, towards solving our primary tasks, which we outlined at the beginning of the special military operation…
Everyone is fighting, literally heroically. And they are fighting right now. Let us wish them all, both those who are fighting in the Kursk region (of Russia) and those who are fighting along the entire front line, good luck, victory and to return home.
On the economy
In Russia, the situation is normal, stable, we are developing despite everything, despite external threats and attempts to influence us…
Of course, inflation is … an alarming signal…
There are some issues here, namely inflation, a certain overheating of the economy, and the government and the central bank are already tasked with bringing the tempo down…
There are subjective (reasons for rising prices), and there are shortcomings on our part. For example, some experts believe that the central bank could have started using certain tools that are not related to raising the key rate more effectively and earlier. Yes, the central bank started doing all this somewhere in the summer, but, I repeat, these experts believe that this could and should have been done earlier…
This is an unpleasant and bad thing, in fact, the rise in prices. But I hope that in general, while maintaining macroeconomic indicators, we will cope with this too.
On Syria
The Russian leader said he hadn’t yet met ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, who was given political asylum in Moscow, but plans to do so and will ask him about Austin Tice, an American journalist who went missing in Syria 12 years ago.