Good morning. While we wait for Russian President Vladimir Putin to arrive for his question-and-answer session (scheduled to start at 12 p.m. local time in Moscow), here's a look-ahead from RFE/RL's news desk:
Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding his 11th annual question and answer session with the press on December 17, with the war in Syria and tensions with Turkey expected to be major topics.
The TASS news agency reported that as many as 1,390 journalists are accredited to attend, including Ksenia Sobchak of the Dozhd television channel, who got into a dispute with Putin at the event last year.
Putin established the tradition of meeting with the press for lengthy question and answer sessions in 2001 because of numerous requests he received for interviews, his spokesman said.
The news conference usually starts at noon Moscow time and continues for several hours. Reporters are free to ask any question. The president decides when to end the conference.
While Putin schedules one long session a year with the press, many other heads of state address the media more frequently.
U.S. presidents, for example, typically appear several times a year for formal news conferences, and often give unscheduled statements at the White House that present opportunities for questions from the press.
(TASS)
Vladimir Putin has arrived.
"After the recent address to the nation, I don't know what else to say -- everything has been said already," he says.
Q: You predicted the end of Russian economic crisis for 2016-2017. What are your thoughts now?
A: We based everything on the fact that a barrel of Brent oil costs $100. Today it actually costs twice as little. Now we have to adjust everything.
However, the peak of the crisis is behind us.
At the beginning of the press conference Putin took off his watch and placed it nearby. "Timed it?" asks Russian journalist Dmitry Smirnov.