Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed optimism
about his country's future development and stood firm on some of
the disputes with the West in his annual press conference in the
Kremlin.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin speaks during his final annual news conference in
Moscow, Russia, February 14, 2008.
The Russian leader, who is set to leave office in May, said he
is satisfied with his eight years in office.
"I am sure I do not feel ashamed before the citizens who twice
voted for me as president of the Russian Federation. All these
eight years I have been dedicating all of myself to this," Putin
told some 1,400 journalists attending the event, which may be his
last Kremlin set piece to the press.
Putin said he managed to avoid major mistakes and achieved the
goals he set for himself during his presidency, adding that the
year 2007 was a "very successful" year for Russia economically.
"Russia's economic growth hit 8.1 percent last year and its
purchasing power ranked seventh among world economies," he
said.
"We have restored the foundations of the Russian economy on an
entirely new market base and are steadily turning into one of the
economic leaders," he said.
Asked about his possible role as prime minister after he leaves
office as president, Putin said Russia will properly arrange
relations between the president and government.
The president will set outlines and directions for national
development while the government will be responsible for
substantial work such as drafting budgets and carrying out social
projects, Putin said.
The Russian leader said his preferred successor, First Deputy
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, will be an "effective"
president.
Putin, who has agreed to be prime minister if Medvedev wins the
election, said he's not addicted to power and will abide by the
constitution, which bars him from seeking a third consecutive
term.
"I was never tempted to run for a third term. I decided on the
very first day of my presidency that I would not breach the Russian
constitution," he said.
But he indicated he would still have a strong role in Russia for
the years to come.
"I will be involved in the same tasks as when I was president,"
he said. As long as Medvedev is president, "I will continue
working."
A man walks past
television sets in an electronics shop in Moscow Feb. 14, 2008,
showing Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking during an annual
question and answer session at the Kremlin.
No appetite for confrontation
While commenting on Ukraine's possible accession to NATO, Putin
warned Russia may target its missiles at Ukraine.
"We will have to target our missiles at sites which, in our
opinion, may threaten our national security," he said.
Putin, however, said Russia does not intend to seek
confrontation with any country and does not want a repeat of the
Cold War.
"We will never slide into a confrontation, but we believe it
will be right to fight for our interests just as our partners do,"
he said.
"The presumption that we want to return to the Cold War era is a
very bold presumption. We are not interested in this," he said.
On the status of Kosovo, Putin said that support for its
unilateral declaration of independence is "immoral" and
"illegal."
Putin called on the concerned parties to abide by U.N.
resolutions and urged the European Union not to adopt double
standards over Kosovo.
Russia strongly opposes the unilateral proclamation of
independence by Kosovo, a breakaway Serbian province mostly
Albanian in ethnicity.
Kosovo, which has been administered by the United Nations
since1999, is expected to unilaterally declare independence after
talks failed to resolve its future status.
Russia-China relations
The Russian president hailed the partnership between Russia and
China as a key factor in ensuring strategic stability in the
world.
"An important interaction factor is the fact that the
partnership between Russia and China is an important stabilizing
factor in the world," Putin said.
China, as one of Russia's strategic partners, is enjoying fast
economic growth and the increasing trade and economic cooperation
between the two countries has boosted bilateral ties, Putin
said.
Bilateral cooperation will expand in fields such as trade and
economy, science and technology, aviation and space research, and
environmental protection, he said.
"China is one of the few countries with which we have very close
and long-term cooperation... I simply have no doubt that we will
keep this high level of trust between our two countries and will
achieve new successes, primarily in the economic area," said
Putin.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2008)
