Russian President Meets With Regional Leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday at a meeting with elected regional leaders earlier this month that the country's economy is growing, even though opponents have predicted the opposite.

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"We have all the capabilities for solutions, no matter how strange it may seem to some external onlookers, to those who have expected to see everything collapse here," Putin said at the meeting with the leaders of the four regions whose residents decided to join Russia.

Referring to the unilateral restrictive measures adopted by Western powers, Putin said that Russian "economy is gaining momentum. The industry works as efficiently as it has not worked for a long time, agriculture is setting ever new records, and construction is developing at a pace that was unseen in Soviet times."

He said that "the army, the defense capabilities, the Armed Forces, the fighters: everything necessary for the front, everything necessary for victory is in the budget. This puts a considerable burden on the budget, but it is our absolute priority." 

The tweet reads, "Russia has all the opportunities to solve the existing problems, despite the negative expectations of its opponents, assured Russian President Vladimir Putin."

Among the problems that still need to be solved, he mentioned slum clearance, the construction of kindergartens and schools and the shortage of medical personnel.

"Problems are many: there where housing is in disastrous condition, where people should have a chance to get out of slums at last, where there are still not enough pre-school childcare facilities, where people still have to send their children to schools that work three shifts a day, where there are not enough ambulances, where labor market issues have not yet been resolved, and where there are still demography-related problems," Putin noted. 

He said that the country's development will largely depend on the efficiency of local authorities, and added, "We have everything to effectively follow the chosen path and to strengthen the country."

On this occasion, the president welcomed the elections in "the new historical regions, Donbas and Novorossia,"held for the first time under Russian legislation. Putin highlighted "the trust shown by the people" towards the elections noting that "both the turnout and the level of support were indicative of the fact that people trust all of us."