MOSCOW (AP) – The Latest on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s live call-in show (all times local):
12:35 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the U.S. Senate move to tighten sanctions against Moscow is part of efforts to contain Russia.
The Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 election by approving a wide-ranging sanctions package that targets key sectors of Russia’s economy and individuals who carried out cyberattacks.
Putin, speaking Thursday during a live call-in show televised nationwide, deplored the Senate’s move but added that the Western sanctions against Moscow also have hurt the West itself.
He said that the sanctions have given Russia an incentive to shed its dependence on oil and gas exports and “switch on our brains and talents” to develop other industries.
Putin noted that electronics, aerospace industries and agriculture have all received a boost.
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12:25 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Russia’s economy has overcome a recession.
Putin said during Thursday’s live call-in show televised nationwide that the “crisis is over,” pointing at an economic growth over the past nine months. He also pointed at low inflation and rising hard currency reserves.
The Russian economy had plunged into recession under the impact of a drop in global oil prices and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
Putin acknowledged that the Russian economy hasn’t yet shed its dependence on exports of raw materials, but noted that non-energy exports have been growing.