Putin Finds Time For A Laugh During Phone-In
Updated: 1:39pm UK, Thursday 17 April 2014
By Ian Woods, Senior News Correspondent
Even in the midst of a crisis, with Russia on the brink of a conflict with Ukraine, there was a chance for some Vladimir Putin humour.
About a quarter of the way through his marathon question-and-answer session, with more than two million phone calls, emails and texts logged, came a question from a pensioner about his plans to push beyond Russia's borders.
"Does the President want to take Alaska as well?"
Mr Putin laughed and said: "What do we want with Alaska? We have enough cold territory."
Sarah Palin can sleep easier in her bed. The former vice-presidential candidate once said her expertise in foreign affairs came from having the Russians as her neighbours.
The exchange lightened the mood of a television marathon which was dominated by Ukraine and Crimea.
The Direct Line with Putin is an annual event in Russia and this was his 12th.
But it was pointed out that in his previous five-hour long session last year, he had not mentioned annexing Crimea as one of his policies.
Mr Putin said it was never a plan. He was simply responding to the wishes of the people of Crimea, he claimed.
The questions about the takeover of Crimea were not all supportive of the President.
Many Russians fretted about the cost to the economy and some wondered whether it would change the character of Crimea.
They were reassured it would not and that no social programmes would be cut to pay for Crimea's return to Kremlin control.
But the questions from an outside broadcast in the Crimean port of Sevastopol were unmistakably in support of Mr Putin.
At one point the crowd who had gathered to take part in the show chanted: "Russia, Russia."
Mr Putin said the situation had allowed Russians to rediscover patriotism.
As for the situation in eastern Ukraine, Mr Putin's answers were familiar.
He denied the Russian military had crossed the border in support of ethnic Russians.
He questioned the legitimacy of the interim government in Kiev, as well as the presidential elections on May 25, which are designed to confer legitimacy on the winner.
He said that when candidates from the East were being beaten up, it could never be a fair election.
And he attacked Nato expansion, saying: "When people move towards our borders, it makes us take steps to respond."
One of the questions came from a former member of the Berkut, the now disbanded Ukrainian special police force, who said he had confronted protesters in Kiev and some of his colleagues had been injured.
He called the deposed President Viktor Yanukovych a "slacker and a traitor" for not ordering tougher action.
Mr Putin defended his former ally, saying the two of them had discussed the dilemma and Mr Yanokovych had been unwilling to sign an order to open fire on his own citizens.
After three hours, just when you thought it might be getting a little boring, up popped a special guest via video-link from an undisclosed location.
Former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden had been invited to ask a question, which he did so in English, though the President confessed he found it hard to understand his American accent.
Snowden, who was granted in asylum in Russia after fleeing the United States to leak the secrets of America's mass electronic eavesdropping programme, asked if Russia had a similar programme.
Mr Putin, a former KGB officer, spoke to him as one professional to another. And, of course, he said such an operation was impossible because Russian agencies were strictly controlled.
It was an impressive performance from the Russian president, talking fluently and peppering his answers with statistics.
He was supremely confident, as well he might be.
His opinion poll ratings are rising. The number of Russians who say they totally trust Mr Putin has increased from 7% to 16%, and the number of those who are "more likely to trust him" has grown from 50% to 55% over the past year.
The number who say they do not trust him is down from 35% a year ago to 20% now, and 37% of the 1,600 people questioned said they like and even admire him.
But even after the hours of answers, the West is still unsure about Mr Putin's ultimate goal.
How far does he want to push his luck, knowing the response from Europe and America will be limited to diplomatic and economic posturing?
Perhaps we will find out the answer to that question at next year's marathon phone-in.
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