Russia is capable of responding to any challenges, even the most complex ones, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, delivering his annual State of the Nation Address to both houses of the Federal Assembly, the Russian parliament.
“We shall overcome everything together,” the Russian president said as he began his State of the Nation address.
Putin also turned to domestic matters, encouraging Russians to have large families and indicating his desire to tackle low incomes and increase life expectancy in Russia.
The West deliberately destroys the norms of morality and the institution of the family, while Russia chooses life and traditional values, the head of state emphasized.
Putin said that the poverty problem continues to be acute in Russia and affects more than 9% of the country’s population, and among families with many children the poverty level is about 30%.
The Russian leader dismissed U.S. officials’ purported interest in negotiations on strategic stability as disingenuous.
"We have every reason to believe that the words of the current U.S. authorities about their alleged interest in engaging with us in negotiations on strategic stability are merely cheap rhetoric ahead of the U.S. presidential election," Putin said.
According to him, Moscow rules out the possibility of strategic stability talks with Washington detached from Russia's national security interests.
"If you want to discuss crucial issues of security and stability, important for the globe, Russia is ready for a dialogue with the U.S. You should do it only in one package. Naturally, including all those aspects that concern our national interests and directly affect the security of Russia," Putin said.
The Russian president said that Russia is ready for dialogue with all interested countries and associations on creating a new pattern of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia.
"We seek to unify the efforts by the global majority. BRICS countries' share in the global economy, based on purchasing power parity, is projected to increase to 36.6%, while the G7's share will decline to 27.8%," Putin said.
