Next journalist asks whether law on "foreign agents" should be expanded to cover individual people, noting that Butina was arrested in the United States as an unregistered individual agent. Putin notes that U.S. law is much harsher than Russia's and defends Russia's law on foreign agents, although he says there are cases where charitable work has been affected by the law incorrectly.
A reporter at the Putin presser with Navalny printed across the back of his shirt. The opposition politician says at least "one good journalist" at the event.
Journalist from Afghanistan asks about negotiating with the Taliban and Putin says it depends on what they are discussing and that it is not possible to ignore a force that controls a lot of Afghan territory.
A regional journalist asks Putin what he thinks about "responsible journalism." Putin says "there is strength in truth" and "that is the only way the media can win the trust of the people." Says media is now too much "commercialized." Putin says journalists must try to be as objective as possible.
Journalist asks if the government should do something to promote "positive content" on the Internet. Putin says the government is already doing that and giving grants for such projects and will continue to do so.
U.S. journalist asks about the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria and President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. has defeated Islamic State (IS). Putin says that he agrees with Trump that IS has been "dealt a serious blow" in Syria but says there is still a threat in other countries, including Afghanistan. "This is a great danger for all of us," Putin says. Putin says he doesn't understand the withdrawal of U.S. forces -- says the U.S. has been saying it is withdrawing from Afghanistan for years and is still there. Says Russia sees no signs yet that the U.S. is withdrawing from Syria. Then begins talking about the Russia-led peace process in Syria and the possible formation of a constitutional commission -- says this work is in its "final stages." Says presence of U.S. forces in Syria was "illegitimate" and didn't contribute to a political settlement there. Says Russia is "overall" satisfied with cooperation between Russia and the U.S. on fighting terrorism.
- By Luke Allnutt
Putin has been taking questions for over 90 minutes now. So far, the Russian president has:
-- cast Russia’s sluggish economy in a positive light.
-- criticized the United States for abandoning Cold War-era nuclear arms treaties, saying that the risk of a devastating war should not be underestimated.
-- repeated his claim that Kyiv was to blame for an incident in which Russian forces fired on Ukrainian naval vessels off Russian-held Crimea on November 25.
Asked why Russia still doesn't recycle, Putin answers, "Do you know there are islands of waste in the Pacific Ocean?"
Chinese journalist asks about Russia-Chinese relations. Putin praises them, including growing trade relations and security relations. Says Russian and Chinese cooperation in international matters is a major "stabilizing" factor. Praises "stability" inside China, says this is essential for a country with 1.3 billion people.
Putin notes that today is KGB Day in Russia. Regional journalist says "we are all children of the KGB -- we just understand this differently." Asks whether the restoration of socialism in Russia is possible. Putin says he thinks not (sighing deeply as he says that). Says it is possible to introduce "elements" of socialism, but society has changed too much to go back to socialism. Putin talks about "a just distribution of resources" and "building state policy to minimize the proportion of the poor and to secure for the people education and medicine." "This is the policy we are pursuing now," Putin said.