Putin hosts annual Q&A session: As it happened

It is “natural” for the West to try to downplay the Soviet contribution to victory over Nazi Germany amid geopolitical tensions, as this policy is just another angle to attack Russia, Putin has said. At the same time, Moscow would welcome all representatives of foreign countries, including Western ones, who would like to attend the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Russia next year, he added.

Asked if he would have changed his decision to send troops to Ukraine in February 2022 if he could go back in time, Putin firmly replied that Russia should have done it earlier. “With this kind of [prior] knowledge, we should have started preparing for this action, including the special military operation,” he said.

The president noted that the decision to launch the military campaign was made without much preparation because Russia “could no longer tolerate” Ukraine's behavior, referring to Kiev's aspirations to acquire nuclear weapons and its open refusal to abide by the now-defunct Minsk agreements, which sought to give Donbass a special status within the Ukrainian state.

Putin has acknowledged that two and a half years of the Ukraine conflict have taken their toll on him as a person. The hostilities “have been a challenge for all of us, for the entire country, and for me,” he said, explaining that he now rarely laughs or makes jokes. 

Asked why he had not commented on US President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter – who had pleaded guilty to tax charges and was found guilty of being an illegal drug user in possession of a gun, despite earlier promising not to do so – Putin remarked: “It is often said that silence is golden.”

Biden is “a politician,” the president continued. “It’s always important whether he is more of a politician or more of a human being. It turns out he was more of a human being. I’m not going to condemn him for that.”

Asked whether Russia should introduce a blanket ban on porn websites, Putin listed the issue among very delicate questions. “They watch porn everywhere in the world. It is like ordering a steak. This problem exists everywhere.”

According to Putin, the only real remedy is offering an alternative to porn which would appeal more to broader audiences. “So that a person takes a look at a porn website, and says: 'No, I’ve already seen that. I want something else,'” he quipped, eliciting laughter.

Asked which deceased world leaders he would like to have tea with, Putin said he had very warm memories of former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, ex-French president Jacque Chirac, and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

He described Kohl, who oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany, as “a figure of international scale.”
“Some of our conversations were interesting. They were useful for me,” he remarked.

According to Putin, Chirac was also an “interesting” leader and a “walking encyclopedia” with sharply defined opinions. “I learned much from him… He was warm in communications, and energetic,” he said.

Putin went on to praise Berlusconi for his legacy of improving Russian-Italian relations.

“All of them made a significant contribution in the development of bilateral relations… They were personalities with their own opinion…, seeking to enhance their countries’ sovereignty,” the president added.

Putin has reiterated Russia’s support for the two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which was endorsed by the UN Security Council. “Israel has been created, but Palestine has essentially not been created. That’s the core of the problem. In addition, Israel continues its so-called illegal settlement activities,” he said, referring to communities in the West Bank and Golan Heights.

He also called Israel the main beneficiary of the turmoil in Syria. “Russia condemns any occupation of Syrian territory... We hope that Israel will eventually withdraw from Syria, but now it is sending additional troops there.”

Questions regarding the slowing down of YouTube in Russia should be addressed to Google, rather than to Russian authorities, as Western sanctions have interfered with equipment deliveries, Putin has said. He added that the video platform should abide by Russian laws and stop furthering the political goals of Western governments.

Putin is “trolling” the West when challenging it to a “technological duel,” Sergey Poletaev, an information analyst and publicist, and co-founder and editor of the Vatfor project, has told RT. The president has suggested that Western experts could choose a target in Kiev, amass their defense systems in one place, and try to repel an attack by Moscow’s new hypersonic Oreshnik missile system.

”I think it was trolling. It is hard for me to imagine that the West would go for this, I think Putin understands this better than anyone else,” the expert said.

He added that Putin appears confident in the capabilities of the Oreshnik system, as “apparently, he knows more about it than we do.” Poletaev noted that so far, the weapon has only been used once, referring to last month’s strike on the Yuzhmash military plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr.

”It was more of a demonstration. In order to draw any conclusions, we need to wait for full-fledged combat use,” Poletaev said.

Putin described the crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – which Kiev accuses of having ties to Moscow – as “an unprecedented and blatant violation of human and religious rights.” “They are tearing the church apart while the world watches. It’s like an execution. And the whole world prefers to turn a blind eye.”

He denounced the Ukrainian leadership as people who believe in nothing, have nothing in common with ordinary citizens, and are ready to flee the country at any moment.