Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses lawmakers and other officials at the Kremlin in Moscow, December, 3
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses lawmakers and other officials at the Kremlin in Moscow, December, 3
The key themes (according to CNBC):
"We have to be prepared and we have to defeat them (terrorists) before they get here that's why we launched this operation in Syria...our forces fight in Syria for Russia, for the security of our people first and foremost".
Putin made several digs at Turkey during his speech, underlining the government's fury and disbelief at Ankara's actions. "We will never forget what they did and we have always believed that betrayal is the most ignoble act. I don't even understand why they did it," he said.
Putin says ‘Allah is punishing’ Turkey’s rulers. "Only Allah knows why they did it,” he said about the downing.
Putin said that Russia needed to boost its economy in several ways, boosting competitive production and help for small and medium-sized enterprises. He also welcomed foreign investors.
The Russian president said that by 2020, he wanted all of Russia's food to be made by domestic producers.
Bloomberg reports, at the end of his speech, the Russian leader quoted Dmitri Mendeleev, the Russian chemist who came up with the periodic system of elements in 1869: "Dispersed, we will immediately be destroyed. Our power is in unity, in warriorship, in the good-hearted family spirit that increases the population, and in the natural growth of domestic wealth and amity."
