Russia's TV tsar Vladimir Putin on confident form in marathon Q&A

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/17/russia-tv-tsar-vladimir-putin-confident-form-marathon

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Would President Barack Obama save his Russian counterpart if he discovered him drowning? Students of US-Russian affairs, poring over President Vladimir Putin's four-hour live-televised question and answer session for insights into the state of bilateral relations, may have found Putin's response mildly reassuring.

"I can't say that I have a special personal relationship with the US president, but I think he's a brave and decent man; he would do it," Putin replied to the question posed by a six-year-old girl.

It was one of many peculiar moments in this annual broadcasting marathon, as Putin fielded dozens of generally uncritical questions from citizens across Russia. Putin told viewers about the need to get his ex-wife remarried before he can think about getting himself a new wife, about his favourite film (Chapaev, a 1934 Red Army biopic), his favourite vodka, where he would most like to live if he had the choice (St Petersburg), the meaning of being a Russian, and his views on annexing Alaska, sold to the US in the 19th century (not worth the bother because it's too cold).

The session was dominated by the situation in Ukraine, and most of the questions concerned Putin's handling of the unfolding crisis. Several of the gentle, carefully stage-managed interventions from the public, which came from studio audiences across Russia or were emailed in, were clumsily prefaced with words of gratitude for the recent annexation of Crimea. A crowd in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, filmed by video-link, simply chanted "Thank you! Thank you!" – making the questions almost inaudible.

Putin used the occasion to set out a complex message on Ukraine that mixed aggressive cold war rhetoric with a few cursory declarations of his readiness for conciliation and compromise.

He reminded millions of viewers that the east of Ukraine had once been part of Russia, referring to the region by its tsarist name "Novorossiya", or "New Russia", hinting that it has been a mistake to let it go. "It's new Russia," he said. "Kharkiv, Lugansk, Donetsk, Odessa were not part of Ukraine in tsarist times, they were transferred in 1920. Why? God knows." He stressed that Russia needed to protect the rights of ethnic Russians there. "We must do everything to help these people defend their rights and independently determine their own destiny," he said.

He warned that the upper house of the Russian parliament had granted him the right to intervene militarily if the confrontation escalates, adding ominously: "I really hope that I do not have to exercise this right."

It was a polished performance, unflagging as the fourth hour stretched on, his preternaturally smooth skin unwrinkled even in fleeting moments of anger. He told viewers that he didn't intend to remain president forever, but he appeared to have no qualms about talking interminably .

He denied repeatedly that Russia had sent troops into eastern Ukraine over the past few days. "It's all nonsense, there are no special units, special forces or instructors there." The bands of men, in unmarked green military uniforms, who have seized tanks from Ukrainian forces were "local residents".

However, he admitted that Russian units had been involved in wresting Crimea from Kiev's control last month, something Moscow denied at the time. "Our servicemen stood behind the back of Crimea's self-defence forces," Putin said. "They acted politely, but resolutely and professionally. There was no other way to hold the referendum in an open, honest and honourable way and allow the people to express their opinion."

He accused the Kiev authorities of committing a "grave crime" by leading the country into an "abyss" and called on them to pull back their heavy artillery from the east of the country, asking with characteristic bluntness: "Who are you going to use it against? Have you completely lost your mind?"

He stressed that he did not want to see a new iron curtain, but he was full of hostility towards the US and Nato expansionist policies, and full of venom about what he viewed as America's foreign policy double standards. "The United States can act in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, but Russia is not allowed to defend its interests."

Smiling amiably, he reeled off a few brief notes of conciliation. As talks opened in Geneva with representatives from the EU, US, Russia and Ukraine, he said that dialogue was important and negotiations were the best way out of the crisis, but added that ultimately a resolution would not emerge during compromise talks between US and Russia, but needed to be found in Ukraine itself. He added that he was confident talks could prove successful. "I'm sure we will come to a mutual understanding with Ukraine. We will not be able to do without each other."

The only moment when Putin momentarily lost his composure was when the NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, who was granted asylum by Russia last year, appeared by video link to ask the president (in English) whether Russia had implemented a mass surveillance programme of the sort that he exposed in the US. There was no simultaneous translation for Snowden's question; Putin said he was unable to understand American English and waited awkwardly for an explanation.

Putin eventually responded: "Mr Snowden you are a former agent, a spy. I used to work for an intelligence service, we are going to talk the same language."

He said Russia did not have a comparable programme: "Our agents are controlled by law. You have to get court permission to put an individual under surveillance. We don't have mass permission, and our law makes it impossible for that kind of mass permission to exist."

At the end of the session, Putin received a standing ovation from the studio audience. He left without revealing anything about his own hypothetical willingness to save Obama from death by drowning.