Vladimir Putin held his annual end-of-year press conference to summarize 2023 and take questions. Journalists received millions of questions from across Russia on various topics like the economy, military operation, and utilities. Putin emphasized that strengthening sovereignty, both domestic and international, is Russia's main goal. He highlighted the resilience of the Russian economy, noting unity in society, a stable financial system with accumulated safety margins, and a growing security capability.

1. 12/14/23, 2:49 PM Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin • President of Russia
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December 14, 2023 15:00 Moscow
Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin summed up the year’s results and answered questions from journalists
and the people of Russia in a live broadcast.
In 2023, the direct line with the people of Russia and the annual news conference have been merged into a single event
taking place in Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor.
* * *
Yekaterina Berezovskaya: We have been accepting questions from across the country for precisely two weeks, and we
have received an incredible number of submissions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this broadcast brings
together Russia in its entirety. We are in for a direct, honest, and open conversation.
Pavel Zarubin: Yekaterina and I took a very close look at all these submissions by reading thousands of pages
and watching so many video messages.

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Yekaterina Berezovskaya: I can compare what happened over the past two weeks with holding the biggest national public
opinion poll. Pavel and I felt as if we were not just journalists but also pollsters.
Pavel Zarubin: Of course, answering all these millions of questions would be impossible, but there are cross-cutting topics,
of course. What were the most popular ones? It goes without saying that the special military operation came on top. We
received messages from the service personnel and their family members dealing with payments, certificates, and supplies.
We will definitely discuss all this in detail today.
Yekaterina Berezovskaya: As usual, there were traditional – popular – questions about utilities, sports and so on.
So shall we start?
Good afternoon.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon.
Yekaterina Berezovskaya: This year, the Russian Popular Front got involved already at the stage of collecting
the questions. There is no doubt that all questions and appeals will be processed, and none of it will go unanswered.
Activists from the Russian Popular Front have a whole year to do this. And the sharpest, most interesting and topical
questions will be asked live today.
Pavel Zarubin: “Yesterday morning, I posted a complaint about not getting paid on the moskva-putinu.ru website,
and in the evening the money came in.” Many problems were solved proactively, but there are many more that remain
unsolved. And most importantly, we all live in a completely different world now and people are naturally concerned about
more than social issues.

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Yekaterina Berezovskaya: What time is better than now, two weeks before the New Year, to review the past 12 months’
results? December is always rich in events.
Mr President, last week you announced your decision to run for president. In this regard, what goals do you consider
the most important, at home and abroad?
Vladimir Putin: I have spoken about this many times, but it would not hurt to say it once again. For a country like Russia,
existence, mere existence, is impossible without sovereignty. Without sovereignty, Russia would cease to exist, at least
in the form it exists today and has existed for a thousand years.
Therefore, our main objective is to strengthen sovereignty. But it is a broad concept. For example, strengthening
sovereignty on the international stage involves enhancing our defence capability and security on the external contour. It
also includes strengthening social sovereignty, which means providing safeguards for the rights and freedoms of our
citizens, as well as developing our political and parliamentary systems. And lastly, it includes economic security
and sovereignty, as well as technological sovereignty.
I think that right now, to answer your question, there is no need to be specific about all these vectors and avenues, but I am
certain that people in this audience and across the country understand perfectly well that Russia would not survive without
this. Just like any other country, Russia must assert its financial, economic, and technological sovereignty in order to have
a future.
These are the main vectors from a conceptual standpoint.
Pavel Zarubin: Since we are discussing the economy, the fact that the Russian economy has not crumbled under pressure
from its so-called former partners surprised many people around the world. However, these former partners have been
openly seeking to finish their job by exerting even more pressure, as we have been hearing in their public statements.

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Publication status
How strong and resilient is the Russian economy? What is its margin of safety?
Vladimir Putin: Big enough so that we not just feel confident but also progress.
This margin of safety, as we have said on numerous occasions, but let me say it again, rests on several components.
The first and most important element is the high level of unity in Russian society.
The second element is the stability of our financial and economic system. As it turned out, and this came as a big surprise
to our so-called partners and, frankly, many of us, over the previous decades Russia has accumulated a sufficient margin
of safety and stability in finance and the economy.
And the third element is, of course, the growing capability of our security component, that is, the army and security
agencies.
To be continued.
Published in sections: News, Transcripts
Publication date: December 14, 2023, 15:00
Direct link: en.kremlin.ru/d/72994