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A Russian woman plays with her baby while watching the televised call-in show with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
A Russian woman plays with her baby while watching the televised call-in show with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Live Blog: Putin's Call-In Show

-- After 3 hours and 40 minutes, it's over.

-- Economic questions dominated the early portion of Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised question-and-answer session, followed by queries about Russia's foreign relations with countries such as Turkey, Ukraine, and Syria.

-- One of the first questions put to Putin concerned rising prices for groceries and other necessities. Putin said that he understands that people are being hurt by inflation.

-- Putin was asked -- reportedly by a 12-year-old girl -- who he would save from drowning first: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the leaders of two countries with which Russia currently has badly strained relations.

12:40 14.4.2016

“Direct Line” with Russian President Vladimir Putin is over after 3 hours and 40 minutes.

12:39 14.4.2016

Q: Do you curse?

A: Sometimes, only at myself. There is such a sin in Russia. What can we do. We’ll pray.

12:38 14.4.2016

A question from Crimea asks if Putin will run for president in 2018.

“It is too early to say,” he answers. Putin adds that it is important to think about where and how the government will work in the future, but how to fulfill the promises today. Depending on how the work goes, he’ll make the right decision, Putin says.

12:34 14.4.2016

My second favorite tweet of the day.

-- Brian Whitmore, The Power Vertical

12:33 14.4.2016

The anchor says that Barack Obama admitted his worst mistake to be Libya.

“This proves once again that the American president is a decent man,” Putin says.

12:32 14.4.2016

A little girl asked if a woman may become Russian president. She is in doubt, because “her dad says only Putin can deal with the U.S.”

Putin says that nobody should think about dealing with the US, but about dealing with internal problems -- health care, education or economics. In that case, Russia wouldn’t have to deal with the U.S.

“As for a female president, maybe a woman will be best to deal with these issues,” Putin concludes.

12:26 14.4.2016

The worker of a defense facility who received a wristwatch from Putin several years ago couldn’t participate in the “Direct Line.”

Putin shows off a bare wrist, joking that he no longer has a watch.

12:22 14.4.2016

Here's video of Putin answering a 12-year-old girl, who asked if he would save the life of the Turkish or Ukrainian presidents if given a choice between the two.

Would Putin Save Erdogan Or Poroshenko If They Were Drowning?
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No media source currently available

0:00 0:00:57 0:00

12:16 14.4.2016
12:15 14.4.2016

Young woman says she no longer associates the word “Europe” with the word “safety.”

Putin agrees that it is right to say that one may feel safer in Siberia and not in Brussels or Paris.

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