Putin says Russian economy stabilizing despite falling oil prices

“He is a bright personality, a talented person, no doubt about it”, Putin said. “It’s not our job to judge his qualities, that’s a job for American voters, but he’s the absolute leader in the presidential race”, Putin told reporters.

“We will carry out air strikes and support Syrian army offensives for as long as the Syrian army carries them out”. Moscow said its plane had not overflown Turkey.

Speaking at his annual news conference, Putin also added: “We must work to replace imported goods with our own ones, alter the structure of our economy, raise labour productivity and improve the business climate…”

Egyptian authorities say the plane was not brought down by terrorism. There was no Russian air defense system there, but now S-400 is installed.

One of the more striking comments came when Putin was asked about the corruption scandal involving Federation Internationale de Football Association and its former chief Sepp Blatter.

The Russian leader also took the opportunity to remind the world that his country is not the root cause of problems in Syria.

President Vladimir Putin held his end-of-year news conference amid a growing assertive role of Moscow in the global fight against terrorism. He says that he wants to move to another level of relations, to a deeper level of relations with Russian Federation.

“What we have said is that we don’t believe that Assad himself has the ability to lead the future Syria”, Kerry said. He urged the Ukrainian government to approve legislation on holding elections in the eastern regions, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting government troops since April 2014.

Answering a question about Ukraine – with which relations remained strained over a smoldering conflict in eastern Ukraine and Crimea – Putin appeared to confirm the presence of Russian special forces in east Ukraine for the first time. The unemployment rate of 5.6% is an achievement, including of the Russian government, Putin said. At the same time, he adds that there have been people “performing some military tasks”.

The annual news conference by the president is a “set-piece” of Russian political life.

“We will help settle this crisis in every possible way”, Putin said.

“Not sure we need a military base in Syria, what is the special need for this?” he asked.

The president said he was unsure whether Russia needs a permanent military base in Syria, since new Russian weapons, such as sea- and air-launched cruise missiles used in recent strikes on targets in Syria, give Moscow enough punch to strike an enemy from afar.

Eighty percent of Russians agree that the country is in economic crisis and 58 percent say they’ve cut spending on food, according to a survey of 1,600 people published Thursday by the independent Levada Center.

The Russian president said a draft resolution on the Syrian conflict prepared by the United States at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was in general acceptable to Russia.

He emphasized Russia’s opposition to Western and Arab calls for Assad to leave power as part of a political transition, saying that outsiders can not dictate who governs Syria and that Moscow’s “position has not changed” on this key issue.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin subjected Turkey to a furious tirade on Thursday, using barrack-room language to wonder aloud whether it had shot down a Russian warplane last month to curry favor with the United States. He said the Cabinet is coping well with the economic crisis and he sees no need to revamp its membership.