"Address to whole world." Politicians' view of Vladimir Putin's 14th Nation Address

Russian politicians present at Russian President Vladimir Putin's 14th State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, shared their impressions of the presidential speech and the voiced plans regarding the country's life and development for the coming years.

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Ilyas Umakhanov said that the 14th Nation Address was terrific. "It is amazing both in its philosophical depth, and in its aspirations for the future, and in demonstrating its military power and, at the same time, the peacefulness of the Russian state," he said.

"At the same time, the country's development plans, mentioned by the president today, are not really connected with the current electoral cycle, but are aimed at creating a full-fledged platform for all the programs for Russia's further life for decades ahead. For us these are very important benchmarks in the work, including in the legislative sphere," Ilyas Umakhanov added.

High Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatiana Moskalkova, stressed that, in fact, 14th Nation Address was the address to whole world. "The president showed the state of human rights in Russia in all areas, the prospects for strengthening and the possibility of developing our state, which was very important for me as a human rights ombudsman. It is also important that he put to the first place the social sphere and Russia's action in ensuring the rights of its citizens to life, sovereignty and national pride," she said.

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov praised the relevance of the address."First, its priorities were shifted: he started with the huge number of poor people in Russia. Second, it was stressed that the current problems cannot be solved without modern science and high technologies. Third, the president saw the enormous danger and challenges posed by the Americans and NATO, and therefore showed military developments of recent years," he noted.

Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities, Mikhail Men, also pointed to the ambitiousness of the plans voiced during the Address. "According to our specifics, the most important tasks set by the president today are housing construction. The second task is the mortgage rate. The president sets the task to reduce it to 7-8%, and this is an ambitious, but quite realistic goal. We will work on it, " Mikhail Men assured.

The member of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Alexei Pushkov compared 14th Nation Address with Putin's address to the 2007 Munich conference. "Back then, Putin tried to explain to the so-called Western partners what their policy can cause, but they did not hear. Now he showed again what their policies can do - and now, I think, it would be heard," he said.