Live Updates: Vladimir Putin Holds Large Annual News Conference in Moscow

"Can we look for a way forward on the Kuril issue? We can, and we are doing this together with the current Japanese leadership. We have good, trusting relations. Do we have this decision now? Not yet, but the most important thing is that we want to find this solution," Putin said in response to a question from a Japanese journalist.

The UK is looking for better economic relations with Russia, Vladimir Putin stated during his annual press conference.
He applauded Prime Minister Boris Johnson for better capturing the mood of British society on Brexit. According to Putin, Johnson is able to deliver Brexit.

БОЛГАРСКИЙ ЖУРНАЛИСТ ПОПЫТАЛСЯ ПОДАРИТЬ ПУТИНУ ИКОНУ pic.twitter.com/FjmvCXzXed

— Елена (@zevtKNVJlPePjTB) December 19, 2019

Журналисты в фойе Центра международной торговли, где скоро начнется пресс-конференция Путина. #ПрессКонференция pic.twitter.com/86de0jxlft

— НТВ (@ntvru) December 19, 2019

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Politically motivated economic restrictions hurt the entire global economy and international trade, therefore, countries are better off abandoning them, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at his annual press conference.

"It is better to abandon politically motivated restrictions on economic activities. It inflicts colossal damage upon international trade and global economy," Putin said.

Russia has not sent Germany an official request for the extradition of a militant killed in Berlin, since a discussion of this topic between the special services of the two countries showed that such a request is unlikely to be satisfied, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference.

“Such questions have been discussed at the level of special services several times. There was really no official request through the prosecutor’s office, because our competent authorities considered this pointless, since they received, in fact, a negative answer,” the president said.

Putin recalled that he considered the murdered person in Berlin to be “an absolute bloody killer,” who was responsible for the deaths of 98 people in the Caucasus.

"As for [Lenin's] body, I do not think we need to do anything about it, at least not for as long as we have — and we do — many people for whom it is part of their lives, their faith, certain achievements of the past Soviet years, and the Soviet Union is obviously linked to world proletariat leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. So we are better off moving ahead rather than looking back," Putin said at his annual press conference.

"We want to resolve this issue. I am sure as a lawyer that this ruling of the Stockholm arbitration is not legally, but politically motivated," Putin said during his annual press conference.

One of the arguments in the arbitration's ruling is the difficult economic situation in Ukraine, the president recalled.

"It's just nonsense! They could have refrained from it, but they did write it. OK, there is a ruling, it is true, and we must proceed from it — and we will. We will seek a mutually acceptable solution — including for Ukraine," he said.

"Concerning foreign troops [in Donbass], there are no foreign troops there, there are local self defence units, including police, that are comprised of local residents," Putin said during his annual press conference.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) ban on Russia competing in major international sports competitions was "unfair" and violated the Olympic charter.

"Concerning WADA, I think that it not only is unfair, but also does not make sense and is illegal," Putin said during his annual press conference.

He explained that the ban was unfair to various Russian athletes who were not involved in the doping scandal, including those who competed in the Winter 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang under a neutral flag.

"If someone is caught doing something, then it is normal and fair to punish them. But if most of our athletes are clean, how can [WADA] sanction them for others’ actions?" Putin said.

The president added that WADA’s ban went against the Olympic charter.

"A country’s team should not compete under a neutral flag if there are no factual claims against the current Olympic committee," Putin said.

Президент РФ Владимир Путин начал свою пресс-конференцию.
Фото: Михаил Брацило/Москультура
@moscultura #москультура #moscultura #Путин pic.twitter.com/u3VcIjLhKy

— Mikhail_Bratsilo (@tushinetc_) December 19, 2019

Russian president's press-secretary Dmitry Peskov is already at the stage. As is President Putin himself https://t.co/PcwjI0Zhdx pic.twitter.com/3zPdx9ylnq

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) December 19, 2019