President Vladimir Putin says Russia’s agricultural production has risen even though its national economy has plunged into recession, and predicts that the economy will start growing next year.
Putin was speaking Thursday during his highly scripted marathon call-in TV show, which CBC News correspondent Susan Ormiston is tweeting live.
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The Russian leader uses the annual event to burnish his image as a strong leader who protects Russia from foreign threats and cares about people’s needs.
Turkey unsafe for Russian tourists: Putin
Putin said there were no guarantees of safety for Russian visitors to Turkey and that it was too early to talk about restarting flights to that country and Egypt.
There is effectively a civil war in the south of Turkey whose leadership is co-operating with radical groups instead of fighting them, Putin said.
#Putin asked if Erdogan or Poroshenko was drowning who would u save 1st Putin: if someone is determined to drown you can’t save him. #CBC
The first question came from a woman from the Siberian region of Omsk who asked about potholed roads. Putin replied the government needs to make sure that local officials don’t divert road construction funds to other needs.
Ahead of the show, Russians sent more than one million questions to Putin, ranging from economic troubles at home to the situation in Syria and Ukraine.
Russian complains to Pres #putin about late payment of wages – in annual Q and A direct to Russian President #cbc pic.twitter.com/x4sVY8BNWQ
Source:: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-economy-agriculture-1.3535105?cmp=rss
