MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he would repay the trust voters had placed in him by working toward creating jobs, raising incomes, improving healthcare and building new infra-structure.
Putin, in an address to the nation after his victory in an election last Sunday was confirmed, said though it would be irresponsible to promise that all shortcomings would be fixed immediately. He said there was a role in Russia for debate about the authorities’ actions, but there was no place for irresponsible populism by Kremlin opponents.
In a related development, Putin’s Secretary Dmitry Peskov, announced on Friday that Russia intends to cut down its defence budget down to 3 per cent of GDP by 2022 and improve relations with the west, according to a report by the Russian news outlet RIA.
Russia’s relationship with the west have been most tense since the end of the Cold war owing to differences over the war in Syria, annexation of Crimea, alleged interference in the 2016 US Presidential elections and poisoning of a former spy in England.
