Visit to Artek International Children’s Centre

Visit to Artek International Children’s Centre

Vladimir Putin got acquainted with the children’s centre’s work, met with Artek kids and took part in a ceremony opening the seventh shift dedicated to Samantha Smith.

June 24, 2017

16:20

Gurzuf, Crimea

23 of 34

Meeting with participants of the seventh shift called Samantha’s Smile.

The President was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Presidential Aide Andrei Fursenko and Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov. The Centre’s director Andrei Kasprzhak informed the President about the plans for the camp’s development.

Vladimir Putin viewed the models of the compound where all the current facilities are represented as well as the new ones to be built in 2017–2018 and later. Mr Putin was also shown a gym, a canteen, a folk craft classroom and a dormitory.

The Artek International Children’s Centre is the world’s largest children’s facility in terms of the annual number of attending children and consists of nine reconstructed camps. The President saw the results of the Centre’s infrastructure modernisation ongoing since 2014, as well as the works on the construction of the tenth camp called Solnechny (Sunny).

During his visit to Artek Mr Putin took part in the opening ceremony for the seventh shift of 2017 dedicated to Samantha Smith, an American schoolgirl who visited the USSR as a Goodwill Ambassador and became a symbol of international children’s diplomacy. The President also had a chat with the participants of the seventh shift.

Speech at the opening ceremony for the seventh shiftat the Artek International Children’s Centre

June 24, 2017

16:10

Gurzuf, Crimea

During his visit to Artek Mr Putin took part in the opening ceremony for the seventh shift of 2017 dedicated to Samantha Smith, an American schoolgirl who visited the USSR as a Goodwill Ambassador and became a symbol of international children’s diplomacy.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Hello, everyone,

Welcome to the new seventh shift at Artek.

You already know that Artek was set up back in 1925. It was created as an international camp not only for children from all the republics of the former Soviet Union but also from other countries. A short while ago Artek went through a hard period but now it is being revived, revived as an international camp.

The very best of young people used to come here, both from our country and from abroad. I know that here you will learn the most important thing in life – how to foster friendships. And I encourage you to follow that path. Whatever place your peers have come from, you should always remember that they are your friends.

Artek has much to offer. It teaches you to live, it teaches you to acquire new knowledge. And I very much hope that this knowledge, these skills, the high honour of being an Artek kid, and the friendships you will start here will accompany you throughout your lives.

Welcome!

The Putin Interviews by Oliver Stone

The Putin Interviews

Answers to journalists’ questions following Direct Line

Answers to journalists’ questions following Direct Line

Vladimir Putin answered media questions after Direct Line.

June 15, 2017

16:45

Moscow

7 of 9

Answers to journalists’ questions after Direct Line.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Let us start with our Chinese friends.

Question: This past May the heads of state and government of thirty countries adopted a joint communiqué at the first Belt and Road International Economic Forum, which includes a commitment to step up cooperation. Mr President, how does Russia plan to implement those agreements together with China? Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: I have already said how, but I can repeat.

Firstly, I think the event was unique. This is the initiative of the Chinese President, our great friend, and my personal friend, Xi Jinping. The event was a success. It was a large-scale and successful event. I expect it to usher in a new stage of cooperation in Eurasia, and not only there.

PT -- LINHA DIRECTA COM VLADIMIR PUTIN

LINHA DIRECTA COM VLADIMIR PUTIN

A Linha Directa anual com Vladimir Putin foi transmitida ao vivo pelo Canal 1, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24, canais Russia Today TV e Mayak, Vesti FM e pelas estações da Radio Rossii.

15 de Junho de 2017

16:00

Moscovo

Tatyana Remezova: Boa tarde, estamos ao vivo. Esta é a linha directa com Vladimir Putin, um projecto conjunto do Canal Um e Rossiya 1. Também podem assistir à transmissão ao vivo no Rossiya 24 e escutar uma transmissão ao vivo nas estações de rádio Mayak, Vesti FM e Radio Rossii.

Os moderadores da Linha Directa são Tatyana Remezova e Dmitry Borisov.

Dmitry Borisov: Boa tarde,

Antes de tudo, gostaria de apresentar os nossos colegas que nos irão ajudar hoje. Maria Gladkikh e Natalya Yuryeva estão na central de chamadas; e aqui no estúdio, temos Vera Krasova, Nailya Asker-zade, Olga Pautova e Olga Ushakova.

Estão rodeadas de pessoas que estiveram no centro das atenções das notícias mais dramáticas do ano passado, pessoas que, sem dúvida, de uma maneira ou de outra, configuraram a Rússia de hoje.

Passo a palavra a Tatyana Remezova.

Tatyana Remezova: O Presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin, está presente aqui no estúdio.

Maria Gladkikh: Boa tarde,

Estamos na central de chamadas (call center), que desempenha um papel fundamental na Linha Directa. O nosso centro já recebeu 1,1 milhões de chamadas. Podem enviar agora, as vossas perguntas a Vladimir Putin. O número de telefone não mudou: 8 (800) 200 4040. Também podem usar o 04040 para mensagens SMS e MMS.

Natalya Yuryeva: Além de mensagens SMS e chamadas telefónicas, os nossos operadores também aceitam perguntas de vídeo que podem ser enviadas pelo site moskva-putinu.ru ou através de um sistema operacional móvel especial chamado Moskva Putinu.

Podem enviar, igualmente, perguntas usando as contas oficiais do programa nas redes sociais VKontakte e Odnoklassniki. Podem conversar com o Chefe de Estado, pela primeira vez, através de um link de vídeo directo, via OK Live, bem como através do sistema operacional móvel Moskva-Putinu. Assim sendo, o Presidente não só os escutará, como também poderá ver-vos.

Façam uma chamada. Teremos perguntas até ao final da transmissão. Ainda estão a tempo. Talvez sejam as vossas perguntas que irão ser respondidas por Vladimir Putin.

Maria Gladkikh: Outra inovação na Linha Directa deste ano é a plataforma de comunicações SN Wall que nos permite verificar, em tempo real, como o público está a examinar o programa nas redes de sociais. Já foram publicados no Facebook, no VKontakte, no Instagram e no Twitter, mais de 300.000 comentários.

Os que necessitam de Linguagem Gestual (Br-interpretação de sinais) podem assistir à transmissão na Televisão Pública da Rússia e no nosso site.

Dmitry Borisov: Boa tarde, Snr. Presidente.

Presidente da Rússia, Vladimir Putin: Boa tarde.

Dmitry Borisov: O nosso call center/central de chamadas está a receber chamadas telefónicas há 12 dias e até agora  foram recebidas 2 milhões de mensagens de vários tipos. Os cinco problemas mais sensíveis para os russos incluem a subida dos preços, padrões de vida em declínio, habitação,  serviços públicos, cuidados de saúde e, claro, há muitos pedidos pessoais.

Tatyana Remezova: Dito isto, gostaria de destacar uma grande diferença em relação às Linhas Directas anteriores.

A maioria das mensagens que recebemos não são sobre o presente, mas sobre o futuro: Como é que o nosso país viverá nos próximos anos? Quais serão as suas relações com outros países? Pode ser devido ao facto de estarmos num ano pré-eleitoral, em que as pessoas têm mais perguntas para colocar aos seus líderes, principalmente para vós, é claro.

Dmitry Borisov: No entanto, antes de começarmos a falar sobre o futuro, deixem-me começar com o presente.

Ultimamente, temos escutado muitas avaliações optimistas sobre o estado da economia russa. Podemos dizer, que seria correcto assumir que a crise económica acabou?

Vladimir Putin: Você começou com uma questão central, inquirindo se a crise económica acabou. Gostaria muito de dar uma resposta afirmativa, enviando assim um sinal positivo para as pessoas. No entanto, algures na vossa mente, não podem deixar de pensar que algo pode dar errado, algo pode acontecer.

No entanto, quando se trata de tirar conclusões desse tipo, devemos guiar-nos por dados objectivos. O que é que os factos difíceis nos dizem? Estão a dizer-nos que a economia russa superou a recessão e que mudou para uma tendência de crescimento. Regressarei a este assunto mais tarde, para explicar como esta conclusão pode ser alcançada e em que dados se baseia.

Direct Line with Vladimir Putin -- FULL REPORT

Direct Line with Vladimir Putin

The annual special Direct Line with Vladimir Putin was broadcast live by Channel One, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24 and Russia Today TV channels, and Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.

June 15, 2017

16:00

Moscow

Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.

Tatyana Remezova: Good afternoon, we are live. This is Direct Line with Vladimir Putin, a joint project by Channel One and Rossiya 1 TV channels. You can also watch the broadcast live on Rossiya 24, and listen to a live radio broadcast on Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations.

The anchors of Direct Line are Tatyana Remezova and Dmitry Borisov.

Dmitry Borisov: Good afternoon,

First of all, I would like to introduce our colleagues who will be helping us today. Maria Gladkikh and Natalya Yuryeva are in the call centre; and here in the studio we have Vera Krasova, Nailya Asker-zade, Olga Pautova and Olga Ushakova.

They are surrounded by people who were in the spotlight of the last year’s most dramatic news reports, people who arguably have shaped today’s Russia in one way or another.

Now to Tatyana Remezova.

Tatyana Remezova: President of Russia Vladimir Putin is here, in the studio, live.

Maria Gladkikh: Good afternoon,

We are in the call centre, which plays a key role in Direct Line. Our centre has already received 1.1 million calls. You can submit your question to Vladimir Putin right now. The telephone number has not changed: 8 (800) 200 4040. You can also use 04040 for SMS and MMS messages.

Natalya Yuryeva: In addition to SMS messages and telephone calls, our operators also accept video questions that can be submitted either from the moskva-putinu.ru website or by using a special mobile application called Moskva Putinu (Moscow to Putin).

You can also submit questions using the programme’s official accounts on the VKontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks. For the first time, you can talk to the head of state by direct video link via OK Live, as well as the Moskva-Putinu application. This way, not only will the President hear you, but he will also be able to see you.

Go ahead, make a call. We will be taking questions until the end of the broadcast. You still have time. Maybe it will be your question that Vladimir Putin answers.

Maria Gladkikh: Another innovation in this year’s Direct Line is the SN Wall communications platform that enables us to monitor, in real time, how the audience is discussing the programme on social media. More than 300,000 comments have already been posted on Facebook, VKontakte, Instagram and Twitter.

Those who need sign interpretation can watch the broadcast on Public Television of Russia and on our website.

Dmitry Borisov: Good afternoon, Mr President.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.

Dmitry Borisov: Our call centre has been receiving phone calls for 12 days, and 2 million messages of various kinds have been received to this point. The top five of the most sensitive issues for Russians includes growing prices, declining living standards, housing and utilities, healthcare and of course, there are many personal requests.

Tatyana Remezova: That said, I would like to highlight a major difference from previous Direct Lines.

Most of the messages we have received are not about the present, but about the future: how will our country live in the years to come, what will its relations with other countries be like? This could be due to the fact that we are in a pre-election year, when people have more questions to their leaders, to you primarily, of course.

Dmitry Borisov: However, before we start talking about the future, let me begin with the present.

We have been hearing many optimistic assessments of the state of the Russian economy lately. Can we say, would it be right to assume that the economic crisis is over?

Vladimir Putin: You have started with a core question, whether the economic crisis is over. I would very much like to give an affirmative answer, thereby sending a positive signal to the people. However, in the back of your mind you cannot stop thinking that something could still go wrong, something could happen.

Nevertheless, when it comes to drawing conclusions of this kind we should be guided by objective data. What are the hard facts telling us? They are telling us that the Russian economy has overcome the recession, and moved into a growth trend. I will get back to this later to explain how this conclusion can be reached and on what data it is based.

But I would like to start by making a different point and highlighting the most pressing issues that have yet to be resolved. You mentioned them in your question, by the way. What are these issues all about? Real incomes have been declining over the last several years, and what is even more alarming is the growing number of people below the poverty line with incomes below the minimum living wage.

In this regard, Russia hit a low in the early and mid-1990s, when almost one third of the country’s population lived below the poverty line, almost 40 percent or 35 to 37 percent, according to various estimates, almost 40 million people. This was the all-time low, while the highest indicators in this respect were reported in 2012.

In 2012, 10.7 percent of the population was below the poverty line. Unfortunately, since then this number has reached 13.5 percent. It may not seem like a lot, just a few percentage points, but we are talking about tens, and hundreds of thousands of people, their lives, so this is a matter of serious concern.

St Petersburg International Economic Forum plenary meeting

St Petersburg International Economic Forum plenary meeting

Vladimir Putin attended a plenary meeting of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

June 2, 2017

17:10

St Petersburg

Other participants in the session included Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Federal Chancellor of Austria Christian Kern and President of Moldova Igor Dodon.

The annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum first convened in 1997 to discuss key issues of economic development in Russia, the emerging economies and the world at large. The slogan this year is Achieving a New Balance in the Global Economic Arena.

* * *

Excerpts from transcript of the plenary meeting of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum

Panel moderator, NBC host Megyn Kelly: Welcome, everyone. Thank you so much for being here. I’m Megyn Kelly. And welcome to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. Welcome to our distinguished guests, to our host President Putin, and to all of you. Thank you for taking the time to be here with us today. Yes, yes, how about it for our host and our guests (Applause).

We’ve been in St Petersburg for a few days and understand that this is an important place, a personal place to President Putin. And now we understand why. It’s incredibly beautiful. The gorgeous rivers, romantic bridges, the beautiful weather (Laughter). And most of all the lovely people who have given us such a warm welcome and – I’ll tell you, just in our few days here – have made us feel like we have far more in common than we do apart. And so, the world leaders need to figure out the differences, but I think the people feel bonded in a lovely way (Applause).

So today we’re going to have some opening remarks, and then we’ll get into some questions and hopefully mix it up a little bit. And with that, I turn it over to our host, Russian President Vladimir Putin (Applause).

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen, friends,

It is a pleasure to welcome the participants of the 21st St Petersburg International Economic Forum, including directors of international organisations, heads of state, government representatives and business leaders from dozens of countries.

We appreciate your interest in Russia and the dialogue that is aimed at developing partnership. We are open to cooperation, mutually beneficial projects and working together to find solutions to the vital, strategic issues of global development.

The Putin Interviews by Oliver Stone

The Putin Interviews

Oscar®-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone was granted unprecedented access to Russian President Vladimir Putin during more than a dozen interviews over two years, with no topic off-limits. This remarkable four-part documentary series provides intimate insight into Putin's personal and professional lives, from his childhood under communism, to his rise to power, his relations with four U.S. presidents, and his surprising takes on U.S.-Russian relations today. Witness the most detailed portrait of Putin ever granted to a Western interviewer.

After conducting hours of interviews with Vladimir Putin, film director Oliver Stone says the Russian leader is misunderstood by the West.

MAY
22

“The Putin Interviews”

 “The Putin Interviews” is a 4-hour audacious climax to my strange life as an American filmmaker. Released in the heart of the Second Cold War, advocating for peace, it comes out on June 12th on Showtime in the US -- and in several other countries including UK, Germany, France, and Italy, in roughly the same June time period.

This film comes against a frightening background wherein the US is sleepwalking into a situation where it becomes more and more likely that Russia will react. Which is precisely what so many angry American neocons and Hillary-wing Democrats seem to want! Why? Is it really worth it to push the world closer to the nuclear precipice for this anger? Is it Trump they hate or is it truly the Russians? And why have they conflated these 2 issues?

According to the first enclosed article by Conn Hallinan, Washington and the Pentagon have been very methodical about reaching this stage of thinking. What he’s describing is terrifying. The outgrowth of what Obama, our Nobel Peace Prize winner, started in 2009 was the beginning of a process of modernizing our entire nuclear arsenal; it was without doubt the most dangerous and mistaken policy of his ill-fated tenure. Hallinan is describing a new ‘First Strike Option,’ which consists of a limited strike on Russia with our new modified ‘superfuze’ missiles to knock out Russia’s land-based silos. Read this scenario to believe it. Only Strangelove would.

In our documentary, Putin makes it quite clear for the viewer what we have wrought with the ABMs (anti-ballistic missiles) in Eastern Europe. It has wrecked the sense of parity that had existed for so long. See the map in the film and study the stranglehold the US has put on Russia with our nuclear arsenal, and you’ll begin to understand how you might feel if you were Russia. Pierre Sprey and Chuck Spinney round out the nuclear picture in their article. Russia is hardly the threat to us. We are the threat to Russia.

In another 2 articles, Mike Whitney, an American Cincinnatus, examines the geopolitics and fate of the Russian/US encounter -- and the American determination to block ‘A Greater Europe.’ He outlines brilliantly the growing desperation and unreasonableness of US sovereignty.

Stephen Cohen, in his conversation with John Batchelor, soberly reminds us of the basic US allegations against Russia and Putin in particular. And he also reminds us how we came back to this weird place in time again (circa 1945-54), wherein 6 of these allegations pass as evidence. Shades of Joe McCarthy.

Daniel Lazare, in “The Scandal Hidden Behind Russia-gate,” examines the lies of CrowdStrike and the Atlantic Council.

In all the outing of people around this issue, why haven’t we investigated John Brennan, ex of the CIA, for leaking the original Flynn story? Why haven’t the MSM linked Vault 7 to this man and his little lapdog James Clapper? I always disliked their visages alongside Obama as he was launching his drone campaigns, torture denials, etc. But Brennan’s is truly a face that belongs up there in Orwell’s literature, a face of extraordinary hostility and ugliness -- in other words, the face of war.

Conn Hallinan, “America’s New Nuclear Missile Endangers the World,” Counterpunch, http://bit.ly/2qCiNGk

Pierre Sprey and Chuck Spinney, “Sleepwalking Into a Nuclear Arms Race with Russia,” Counterpunch, http://bit.ly/2lD1osH

Mike Whitney, “Will Washington Risk World War 3 to Block Emerging EU-Russia Superstate,” Counterpunch, http://bit.ly/2oJ9Tpn

Mike Whitney, “Putin’s New World Order,” Counterpunch, http://bit.ly/2qfEpGd

Stephen Cohen, “Kremlin-Baiting President Trump (Without Facts) Must Stop,” The Nation, http://bit.ly/2lsnDnRm

Stephen Cohen, “Might Neo-McCarthyism Mean War vs. Russia?” The Nation, http://bit.ly/2q4x4J3

Daniel Lazare, “The Scandal Hidden Behind Russia-gate,” Consortiumnews, http://bit.ly/2pDWn3P