Russian President Vladimir Putin is addressing the nationwide audience during his 16th Direct Line question and answer session.
Earlier, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that this year’s Direct Line would be somewhat different compared with the previous years. "The Direct Line in 2018 includes a number of new things. The essence of this event, which has no parallels in world practice in terms of content and technology applications, will remain the same but its geographic embrace will broaden, and the amount of communication will grow, too, thanks to the technology achievements at our disposal," Peskov said.
The Russian public is primarily concerned with social and economic problems. Putin traditionally gets "a lot of stories from his daily routine, with people asking for his personal assistance."
The organizers said that more than 1.7 million calls and messages with questions for Putin had been received as of today. The questions were sorted into categories, including sports, tourism, business, sanctions, agriculture, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, economy, ecology and Russia's regions.
Putin was asked what stage the country is going through now. He responded that Russia "is moving forward with sustainable economic growth," what he described a "stable white zone."
"If we are to apply such categories as white, black and grey to see what zone we are in at the moment, we are moving towards the stable white zone," Putin said.
The president has also guaranteed the growth of Russia's economy in the short term. As an example he mentioned the snowy expanses of the Arctic and the Antarctic, where "certain grey and black spots" could be found, too. "We have it the same way. But in general we are moving in the absolutely correct direction," Putin said.
The president has also guaranteed the growth of Russia's economy in the short term. "Everything says that in the short term the growth is guaranteed," the head of the state said.
According to the president, Russia has reached a sustainable economic growth trajectory and an all-time low inflation.
"We have reached a sustainable economic growth trajectory. Indeed, it is rather modest, but it is not a decline, but growth - of 1.5% last year, industry is rising by 1%, agriculture is demonstrating a stable growth, which has turned into a sustainable trend," he said.
Moreover, the maneuvers in budget-related activities will be aimed at reduction of poverty in the country.
Putin said that the ministers should be personally responsible for the implementation of economic plans, when answering a question about the new Russian government and its plans.
"It was necessary to keep those who prepared decisions on our country’s breakthrough development to personalize responsibility for what had been done to date and what is being mapped out in the near future," the president stressed.
The Russian leader also explained why a decision had been made against making radical changes in the Russian government. "The development plan, about the need for the implementation of which we have been speaking in the past few years, was prepared by the previous government in the course of at least the last 18 months," Putin stressed.
"And I know perfectly well that if we had renewed the government by 100% and brought in absolutely new people, even very knowledgeable and very-skilled persons, it would have taken at least two years to formulate either already existing tasks or new ones," the Russian president said.
"We would have lost at least two years. But we do not have these two years," Putin stressed.
Russia's president said that this was the reason why he had made a decision to considerably renew the Cabinet with persons who are "newcomers but who are well-prepared and who have proven their efficiency in high-profile, responsible posts." "I think we have an optimal government today," the Russian leader stressed.
The president said he was familiar with discussions on the new government’s composition. "I had no doubts that they would emerge and it is good that discussions arise in our country on almost every issue, on any administrative decisions and on decisions in the economic and social spheres," Putin said.
Putin addressed the question of rising gasoline prices, which became one the most popular points raised during this Q&A session. According to him, the increase in gasoline prices is unacceptable, but Putin explained that it was connected with imprecise regulation in the energy sector. When asked about the issue, he vowed that the government would take additional measures to stabilize gasoline prices.
The president called the country's Energy Minister Aleksander Novak to ask him about the steps the ministry planned to take regarding the problem. Novak responded that gasoline price growth, which reached 5.6% in May, was curtailed through decisive fiscal measures.
Putin called the accusations against Russia by some foreign countries a "mistake", saying that these politics are harmful to all sides.
When asked about the possibility of a third world war, he stated that it would mean the end of civilization, and that he would show restraint from taking such dangerous steps in international relations.
As he explained, the fear of mutual destruction, as well as strategic parity, have forced the world powers to respect one another since the end of World War II. The president stressed the need to sit down at the negotiation table, and to elaborate schemes guaranteeing European security that are relevant to today's reality.
Putin noted that the US steel and aluminum tariffs are in principle sanctions. "Apparently, our partners thought that they would never be affected regarding this counterproductive policy related to restrictions and sanctions. However, we see now that it is happening. Introduction of protective steel and aluminum tariffs not only for Europe, but also for Canada, for Mexico - in principle those are sanctions, though put in other terms," he said.
