In lieu of this topic, a few articles on The Saker regarding the April the 14th Direct line and press conferences with Putin:
The summary article here:
http://thesaker.is/is-putin-preparing-a-governmental-purge/Transcript of the Direct Line. No question is too insignificant:
http://thesaker.is/direct-line-with-president-vladimir-putin-april-14th-2016/....
Yevgeny Rozhkov: We will discuss the main issues today and put the big questions to the star of today’s programme – the President of the Russian Federation.
So, here, live, we have Vladimir Putin.
Valeriya Korableva: Good afternoon.
Yevgeny Rozhkov: Good afternoon.
Mr President, this is the question processing centre, or the call centre, as we also call it. It is one of the few such centres specially established by Rostelecom to collect the questions people are sending to you for this direct line.
There are several centres because one alone would simply not cope with the volume. Dozens of messages are coming in every second – SMS and MMS messages and telephone calls. If you look around, you see the girls busy taking the many calls coming in.
At the computers over there they are taking video calls. We have someone right now who wants to put a question to you live. Incidentally, these video calls are one of the innovations of this year’s Direct Line.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Excellent.
Valeriya Korableva: Let me show you how it all works. The operator is taking the call right now. It’s a call from Omsk Region, a video call, and this young lady wants to put her question. It looks like a question about roads.
Vladimir Putin: Let’s hear the question.
Valeriya Korableva: There’s a real hail of questions about roads this year. Yes, let’s hear what she wants to ask.
Vladimir Putin: Go ahead. So, roads then, well, this means we get straight into the heart of things this year, without any warm-up.
Question: Hello, Mr President.
My name is Yekaterina and I am calling on behalf of the people of Omsk Region. We have a problem here, and it’s no small problem – it’s our roads. Take a look at what state they’re in. It’s just one pothole after another. Our cars break down on these roads, the wheels come off.
The authorities turn a deaf ear to our problems and pleas. We try to take action, organise petitions, but the authorities ignore us. The people here don’t have proper roads, no bicycle paths either, the trees are being cut down, and there’s mud everywhere.
...
And the transcript from press conference following the Direct Line:
http://thesaker.is/president-putin-met-with-journalists-following-the-direct-line-april14th-2016/Question: Was it not daunting to face so many serious problems and pressing questions?
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: No.
Question: Why do you say that?
Vladimir Putin: This is my work, what my colleagues and I are expected to do. You can’t hide from serious questions, because if you try to put a gloss on reality, how will you understand what is really going on? And it is extremely important to understand where we are, how we are working, and how people view our work.
Question: Mr President, when you were asked about [Alexei] Kudrin, you started talking about the future, about some plans for 2018. Does this mean that you have already made the decision to run for president in 2018?
Vladimir Putin: No, it doesn’t mean that I have made such a decision. It means that we need to adjust our medium and long-term plans. No country can survive without making such adjustments, and Russia is no exception. We had development plans in place through to 2020, and now it is already 2016. We have come to the point where we need to reflect on the medium-term prospects.
This was Mr Kudrin’s own initiative too, really. He and some other colleagues said that we should be working on this regardless of who will be in the Government and who will be the President. The country has to know which road it is taking, at what pace, and what is needed to reach the goals it has set.
Question: Do you regret Obama’s imminent departure?
Vladimir Putin: We will all go one day – there is no point in having regrets, we have to work. I must say that the President of the United States – assessments can vary of course, but in any case his work should be assessed by the citizens of the US – but he is working, and very actively. He and I keep in touch, I maintain contact with his Administration, and I am confident that this will continue until the end of his tenure. He is a very responsible man. But once America elects a new President, we’ll start working with the new one.
...
