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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 23, 2021 - Sputnik International

Live Updates: Vladimir Putin's 2021 Year-End Annual Press Conference

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Putin started the tradition of holding a year-end press event in 2001. This year, the president is holding an offline presser, but the number of journalists has been limited to around 500 due to the pandemic. International issues are expected to be in the spotlight, including relations with the US and Europe, as well as the situation in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds his annual press conference in Moscow. Journalists from Russian and foreign media outlets have gathered for a Q&A session. According to presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin will be answering all their questions "until the very end".
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Table of contents
New firstOld first
13:10 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin Ends His Annual Conference After Almost Four Hours of Q&A
The event lasted for 3 hours and 56 minutes, as Putin answered 55 questions from both Russian and foreign journalists.
13:08 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin on Potential Recognition of Taliban: Russia Working With Partners on Consolidated Approach
Representatives of the Taliban movement after the third meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan (File) - Sputnik International, 1920, 23.12.2021
World
Putin on Potential Recognition of Taliban: Russia Working With Partners on Consolidated Approach
12:40 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin Convinced China Will Inevitably Become Number One Economy in the World

"They cannot hold back the development of China. The Chinese economy is already larger than the US economy in terms of purchasing power parity. China will inevitably become the world's top economy in all other respects. But you have to understand this", he said.

12:38 GMT 23.12.2021
Political Boycott of Beijing Olympics Unacceptable and Wrong, Putin Notes
The emblem of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is seen on a glass door at the National Alpine Skiing Centre during an organised media tour to the Olympic venues in Yanqing district of Beijing, China December 17, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 23.12.2021
World
Putin Slams 'Unacceptable' US Boycott of Beijing Winter Games as Attempt to Hold Back China's Growth
12:36 GMT 23.12.2021
Sanctions Show West Doesn't Care About Crimeans or Democracy, Putin Says

"It is a strange situation: if someone thinks that Crimea is occupied then Crimeans are victims of aggression. So why are they being punished more? But if they chose to rejoin Russia in a referendum then it is a display of democracy. Are they [the West] fighting democracy?" Putin said. "The answer is: they don't give a damn about the interests of Crimeans and Russia or democracy. They are pursuing their geopolitical agenda. That's all. We understand it and we will respond accordingly".

12:22 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin Says Italy Could Play Role in Normalising Russia-EU Ties
12:13 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin: Women's Sports Will Cease to Exist if Men Who Have Changed Their Sex Are Allowed to Compete
12:13 GMT 23.12.2021
Russia Should Look for 'Effective Antidote' to Non-Traditional Values From Abroad, Putin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a plenary session during Far Eastern Economic Forum, in Vladivostok, Russia. - Sputnik International, 1920, 23.12.2021
Russia
Russia Should Look for 'Effective Antidote' to Non-Traditional Values From Abroad, Putin Says
12:09 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin Hopes Russia Will Continue Cooperation With Kazakhstan on Baikonur Cosmodrome

"We will continue to work together with Kazakhstan on Baikonur. There are many issues, nevertheless, I agree with the question formulated by our Kazakh friends that Kazakhstan, if we work together, should not just be a platform for launching the corresponding spacecraft, but should take a broader, more meaningful participatory [role] in space activities. This includes developing of its own competencies in this area", Putin said.

11:25 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin Urges Foreign Internet Giants to Observe Russian Laws
President Vladimir Putin stressed on Thursday that international Internet giants must obey the Russian legislation and that requirements could be tightened if deemed necessary.
11:14 GMT 23.12.2021
Russian President Assures He Did Everything to Find Masterminds Behind Murders of Politician Boris Nemtsov and Journalist Anna Politkosvkaya
The Russian president stressed that the search for those behind the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and opposition politician Boris Nemtsov will continue.

"I did everything to solve these crimes. The relevant instructions and orders were given to all law enforcement and special services. As you know, people are in jail for the crimes committed", Putin said at his big press conference in response to a journalist's question whether he personally knew the names of those who had ordered the murders of Politkovskaya and Nemtsov.

Prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who worked for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was killed in her own house on 7 October 2006. Her professional work was considered to be a motive for the crime.
In June 2014, a Moscow court gave life sentences to Lom-Ali Gaitukayev and Rustam Makhmudov for murdering Politkovskaya. Their accomplices, Ibrahim Makhmudov, Dzhabrail Makhmudov and former policeman Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, were also convicted and imprisoned. Those who ordered the murder have not been found yet.
In turn, Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician who served as Russian deputy prime minister and energy minister under the country's former President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s, was shot at several times on 27 February 2015 from a bypassing car in central Moscow.
Five individuals were convicted in 2017 of being involved in Nemtsov’s murder and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 11 to 20 years.
11:13 GMT 23.12.2021
It's Up to Donbass People to Decide Their Future, Putin Says
11:09 GMT 23.12.2021
Russia's Law on 'Foreign Agents' is More Liberal Than That in the US, Putin Says
11:08 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin on Reports About Torture in Russian Prisons: 17 Criminal Cases Were Opened, Many Responsible Officials Fired
The Russian president has denounced incidents of torture in the Russian penitentiary system as an "obvious crime". He said it's necessary to conduct an unbiased investigation and ensure that those responsible know that punishment is inevitable.
10:52 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin: I Have Every Reason to Believe That Gas From Germany is Eventually Being Supplied to Ukraine
Gazprom is not to blame for the energy crisis in Europe and all accusations of Kiev and the European Union against the Russian company are completely untrue, President Vladimir Putin said during his annual presser.
"There is no truth here. This is just an attempt to turn everything upside down again... Yes, they lie all the time, that's why they muddy the water".
He added that Gazprom supplies the entire volume of gas requested by its counterparties under existing contracts. Moreover, Gazprom has increased gas supplies to the countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States, the president stressed.

"In my opinion, this is generally the only country, the only global company that behaves like this. I have already said at various events, including international ones, that, for example, US suppliers withdrew from Europe, from the European market .... of liquefied natural gas", Putin said.

Flames come out of a domestic gas ring - Sputnik International, 1920, 23.12.2021
Russia
Putin Links European Gas Crunch to EU Buying on Spot Markets
10:46 GMT 23.12.2021
Russia is Not to Blame for Record-Breaking Natural Gas Prices in Europe, Russian President Stresses
Vladimir Putin has emphasised that unlike the United States, Russia is fulfilling its obligations on gas deliveries to Europe.
The president said that Russia's Gazprom had nothing to do with the gas crisis in Europe, and suggested the European nations should react to their gas problems, which they had created on their own, in a timely fashion.
10:46 GMT 23.12.2021
NATO Cheated Russia With Five Waves of Expansion, Putin Says as He Demands Security Guarantees
10:37 GMT 23.12.2021
Putin Urges West to Provide Russia With Security Guarantees Now
10:35 GMT 23.12.2021
US is on Russia's Doorstep With Its Missiles, Putin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that not placing US missiles near Russian borders is “not too much to ask”, as he wondered how Washington would react if Moscow were to place its missiles in Canada or Mexico.
“It was the United States that came to our house with its missiles … Is this too much to ask for? Not to place attack systems near our home? What is so unusual here?” Putin said at his annual press conference.
10:32 GMT 23.12.2021
NATO Expansion to the East is Unacceptable for Russia, Putin Says
American Patriot missiles deployed in Poland - Sputnik International, 1920, 23.12.2021
Russia
Putin Warns NATO Expansion Eastward is Unacceptable: 'US Has Come to Our Doorstep With Its Missiles'
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