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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video call during his annual news conference in Moscow on December 17.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video call during his annual news conference in Moscow on December 17.

Live Blog: Putin's Annual Press Conference 2020

For 4 1/2 hours, Russian President Vladimir Putin took questions from reporters on December 17 in his highly choreographed annual news conference. Our experienced team of Russia-watchers listened intently to it all, and tell us what was news, what was not, and provide perspective on the answers.

-- Putin dismissed a fresh investigative report pointing to involvement by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in the poisoning of Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny and alleged, without evidence, that the Russian opposition leader was working for U.S. intelligence.

-- Putin said that Russia, like other countries, faced problems in 2020 linked to COVID-19 but that the country handled the pandemic better than most. Russia, with a population of around 145 million, has the world’s fourth-highest number of confirmed cases at around 2.7 million and the 10th-highest number of COVID-19 deaths.

-- Putin forecast that Russian GDP would fall 3.6 percent in 2020, a figure he said was lower than the United States and European Union. He said the country’s financial system is “stable” and personal incomes are set to rise by 1.5 percent by the end of the year, although Russians might not feel that.

*Time stamps indicate local time in Moscow

09:18 17.12.2020

Peskov reminds everyone to change the microphone covers after each question as a sanitary measure.

09:19 17.12.2020

Putin takes a hard-hitting first question from Magadan -- "Was this a good year, or was there anything bad?" -- and launches into 10-minute-long disquisition on the pandemic, interest rates, real growth in incomes and "the Russian identity." (among other things)

09:19 17.12.2020

A first take on some first takes...

09:20 17.12.2020

Next question is from state TV and radio in Moscow. Asks about the "state of the health-care system." "How well has it handled the crisis? How will further reforms be modified in light of the pandemic experience?"

09:24 17.12.2020

State news agency TASS quotes Putin as saying Russia is beginning to reduce its reliance on energy exports. Literal translation: starting to get off the oil-and-gas needle.

09:26 17.12.2020

Putin says Russia's health-care system is unique in the world. Begins by answering the question "in comparison with the rest of the world," saying Russia's system worked best. Says at the beginning of the pandemic, Russia immediately closed its borders and won time to react. Putin says number of hospital beds was increased dramatically and 40 new medical centers were created. "This speaks of our capacity to quickly react to any situation," he said. Talks about efforts to increase the supplies of medicines. Says the situation is improving and that the main problems are "logistical." Says Russia is in the top three worldwide in testing. Says Russia is producing the necessary medicines on its own. Praises the Russian vaccine.

09:26 17.12.2020

Putin takes the second question, about the state of Russia's health-care system and COVID and defends the government's response:

He says: no health-care system anywhere in the world was ready for the pandemic. But our health care was better than most others.

As of December 17: Russia reported 2,736,727 cumulative cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Russia government's official figure for deaths is 49,151.

09:27 17.12.2020

Putin says 70 percent of Russia’s federal budget now comes from sources other than oil and gas. “If someone wants to present us as a gas station, this no longer has a basis in reality,” he says, in an apparent reference to the late Senator John McCain calling Russia “a gas station masquerading as a country” in a 2014 interview.

According to figures from the country’s Finance Ministry, 51 percent of the Russian federal budget came from oil and gas in 2014, compared to 39 percent in 2019.

09:27 17.12.2020

Says that Russia had plenty of problems but overall the health-care system reacted to the pandemic effectively.

09:30 17.12.2020

A frequent refrain on COVID: Putin suggests we're all in the same boat but asserts Russia's boat is more seaworthy than others. Some would beg to differ.

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