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A BBC editor has left the Russian president fuming for a second year in a row during his annual end of year conference.
Speaking to the BBC’s Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, Putin was seen mocking Britain’s shrinking economy and claiming he has “pulled Russia back from the abyss”.
The Russian president also claimed his country’s economy was “way ahead of Great Britain”, which is currently under the control of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.
Rosenberg referred to Boris Yeltsin – the former president from 1991 to 1999 – who he said “handed you power and told you to take care of Russia”.
He proceeded to ask Putin whether he believed he had taken care of Russia, “Because looking in, what do we see? We see substantial losses in the so-called ‘special military operation’ that you declared”.
“We see Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. You criticise NATO expansion but there is now more NATO on Russia’s borders: Sweden and Finland”, he continued. “Sanctions, high inflation, demographic problems. Do you think you’ve taken care of your country?”
Putin responded: “Yes, and I think I haven’t just taken care of it, I think we’ve pulled back from the edge of the abyss because with everything that was happening to Russia before that we were heading towards a complete, total loss of our sovereignty.
“Without sovereignty, Russia cannot exist as an independent state.”
He proceeded to discuss Yeltsin.
He said: “[The West] patronisingly patted him on the shoulder. They turned a blind eye when he drank. He was welcome in all Western circles”.
Referring to Yeltsin’s criticism of NATO’s attacks against Yugoslavia in the 1990s during the Kosovo conflict, Putin added: “The second he raised his voice in support of Yugoslavia, the moment he said that it contradicted international law and the UN charter… they immediately started having a go at him – calling him names, saying he’s a drunk and so on.
“Don’t you remember that? I have done everything so that Russia can be an independent sovereign state that is capable of taking decisions on its own interests, not in the interests of countries that were dragging it towards them, patting you on the shoulder so they can use you for their own purposes.”
Putin also admitted that while there is inflation, he said he was going to fight it.
He said: “But we have economic growth. We are ranked fourth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP)”.
“Please tell your readers that. First place in Europe, way ahead of Great Britain. I don’t think Great Britain is even in the top five.”
According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia’s gross PPP makes it the fourth largest in the world, while Britain is ranked 10th. However, when sorted per capita, Britain has the 28th largest economy in the world, while Russia lags far behind in 43rd, according to IMF and World Bank estimates.
“We’re prepared to work with Great Britain if Great Britain wants to work with us,” he continued. “But if it doesn’t happen, we’ll cope without our former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.”
At the end of the conference, Rosenberg asked another question, referring to MI5’s claims that Russian agents were “creating chaos” on the streets of Britain.
Rosenberg’s second question appeared to be the nail in the coffin for Putin, who audibly laughed, thanked Rosenberg for the question and immediately dismissed it as “utter rubbish”.
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