President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the West was threatened by an increasingly powerful Russia, as he promised further economic growth during an end-of-year press conference.
The annual event comes after months of increasing discontent at home and tensions abroad, from a stand-off with Ukraine to deteriorating ties with Washington.
Asked about Western sanctions against Russia, Putin said these were “connected with the growth of Russia’s power.” “A powerful player appears who needs to be reckoned with. Until recently it was thought there was no longer such a country,” he said from behind a large wooden desk to an audience of hundreds of journalists.
The president dismissed spy scandals — such as the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England — as invented to damage Russia’s standing.
“If there hadn’t been the Skripals, they would have thought up something else,” he said.
Domestic concerns also loomed large after the longtime leader’s approval rating fell following a deeply unpopular pension reform this year.
He began the press conference, as usual, by reeling off economic growth figures.
“The main thing is that we need to get into a new economic league. We could very well take the fifth place in terms of size of economy.
And I think we’ll do that,” he said.
Russia is currently ranked 12th in the world pecking order by the International Monetary Fund, which lists the United States first, followed by China, Japan, Germany and Britain.
Putin said the economy grew 1.7 per cent over the first 10 months of the year, roughly in line with predictions, while unemployment was down. Full-year growth is estimated at 1.8 per cent.
“After a long break, a small growth in real incomes has nonetheless been recorded,” he added.
But he appeared to damn his Prime Minister, former president Dmitry Medvedev, with faint praise, saying that he was “generally” happy with the work of his government. Putin was re-elected to a fourth term in March with nearly 77 percent of the vote, but recent polls have seen his support drop below 50 per cent.
