Amazing (for the West) Post Election Meeting of Russia's Presidential Candidates at Kremlin

I can’t ever recall any such meeting occurring after any Western presidential election

A similar meeting after the 2018 election also took place:

The transcript from that 2018 meeting only recorded what Putin had to say to the other seven candidates. Here’s how that talk opened:

The election campaign is over, and I wanted to meet you. I hope that today we will talk about the first thing, how the campaign went, and most importantly, what needs to be done to ensure that all the positive aspects (and there were a lot of them during the election campaign) are taken into account in the future practical work of the executive and legislative branches of government.

Of course, the election campaign is always a special period, it is always associated with special emotions, and often they overlap, of course. This happens almost everywhere, and we are no exception here. The main thing is that we should be able to join forces in the future to work constructively for the benefit of the country.

I looked to see if one occurred after the 2012 election; none did, but the Western backed protests were again present and small in stature. So, we’re left with Putin establishing something of a precedent by initiating such a meeting. It’s unfortunate the 2018 transcript mutes the others, a problem that wasn’t duplicated today. I must say that Putin’s approach to this meeting is very similar to all his meetings: His aim is to obtain input that will allow for the better governance of Russia in a holistic sense. I’ll admit the photos of the opposition aren’t very flattering:

Participants of the meeting with candidates for the post of President of Russia. From left to right: Nikolai Kharitonov (Communist Party), Leonid Slutsky (Liberal Democratic Party) and Vladislav Davankov (New People). Mr. Slutsky looked dour in all the photos provided.

Let’s read what was said during their 45 minute chat. All emphasis mine:

Vladimir Putin: Dear colleagues, good afternoon!

I offered to hold this meeting because we have gone through every step of our way together during this election campaign.

But I know and always assume that every person, especially a representative of parliamentary factions, has their own view on what and how we should do in order to achieve common goals of national development. We have common goals-that's for sure, quite obvious. I know this from a fairly long and close communication with both your parties and you personally.

In this regard, what I would like to discuss. During the election campaign, you met with a large number of people, your constituents. At the same time, we understand and believe that the electoral base of each party has not really changed. There is a peculiarity of the current moment, and this is reflected in the election of the President as Head of state and Supreme Commander-in-Chief. But the electoral base is roughly what it was, in my opinion, and still remains.

This means that we need to continue active joint work in the country's parliament, working together to promote those ideas, the implementation of which will allow us to move closer to solving the problems facing the country.

You've met a lot of people, heard a lot of people. They told you what they expect from the authorities. And it doesn't matter now what level of government this is, it doesn't matter what party, what ideas it promotes, it's important that we achieve the goals that we set for ourselves.

There are some things that we understand uniformly. These are the security of the Russian state, these are issues related to the external contour, the need to achieve sovereignty in the field of defense, technology, financial and credit policy, and so on. I mean, we've talked about all this many times, and I know that we also have some coincidences here.

But I would certainly like to hear what people have said to you, what they have set you up for, so that you can use this feedback to work together and achieve common goals. As a matter of fact, this is all, there are no super-tasks here.

I would like to thank everyone for the fact that the election campaign was conducted in a civilized manner, in full compliance with Russian law. I hope that we will be able to maintain this constructive approach – already on the platform of the parliament, on the platform of interaction in the Federation Council, where representatives of Russian regions work-in the future in order to achieve the very development goals that I have already mentioned.

Please, please.

Nikolai Kharitonov: First of all, Mr President, let me congratulate you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

N. Kharitonov: We recognize the victory.

We are well aware, as I have already said, that it is not a laurel wreath that has been placed around the neck of the electorate today, but a huge burden and responsibility that has been confirmed once again. We are well aware of this.

We understand what time the elections were held. We understand how many people's views, lives, and moods are directed at you, because you have been a leader for many years, and a lot has been done. I remember the 2004 election-exactly 20 years later, I had to participate again. Of course, a huge advance.

It is probably no coincidence that today almost the entire sane world community is well aware that Russia is headed by a reliable person today. A person who is trusted by the majority in Russia. And the elections confirmed this.

We, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and I, as a candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, perfectly understood and did everything to ensure that in this situation there was a powerful consolidation of the people.

On January 9, the Central Election Commission handed me a presidential candidate's certificate, and on January 15, we were already in Khabarovsk. For almost two and a half months, we met with [representatives of] all branches of the Russian national economy, starting from rural areas. The first farmer was in the Khabarovsk Territory. By the way, when we arrived – we were there all day – I was surprised: from Ukraine. I say: "Why did you go so far?" – " And we like it here, maybe we'll stay." I say, " Why 'maybe'? Start with the apartment." Then in the evening we met with Degtyarev and discussed everything: we will be happy to support him.

The only thing that immediately sounded what we are talking about, I brought several projects. She says: "Nikolai Mikhailovich, they buy a liter of milk from us for 29 rubles, the basic fat content is 3.6–3.8 [percent] in winter, and they sell it on the market with a basic fat content of 2.0–2.2 [percent] for 100-120 rubles. We need to do something. We can't work to our own detriment." The team is large, especially since she is a woman, we walked around, looked – they are well done. Not far from Khabarovsk.

Then we met at the medical university and with students of the Faculty of Engineering. Immediately the girl gets up: "Nikolai Mikhailovich, scholarship – 1700 [rubles]." I say: "I studied, it was 33 rubles and 50 kopecks. For sports, I received another 40 rubles in coupons. I also helped the guys and fed them."

Vladimir Putin: I had 40, the increased scholarship was 40.

N. Kharitonov: This is someone who has increased-over 40. I had 33 rubles, I was the headman of the group: 33 rubles 50 kopecks - for that money. Compared to today's money, it's not enough.

The conversation went further, and I said: "Raise your hand," in the Khabarovsk Territory, just at the University of Railway Transport [Far Eastern State University of Railways], "who will go [to where] they came from?" 30 percent. I say, " Why is that?" – "It is necessary to have both a workplace and a salary. And if I get married, if I get married – the apartment [is needed]." There, in Khabarovsk, I said: "At least for the first 20 years, a young couple will get an interest-free apartment loan. The first apartment in 20 years for a young couple to have an interest-free mortgage loan." Look, look, count.

And then more: We were traveling from Khabarovsk to St. Petersburg. Our last trip was to Stalingrad, Leningrad. The housing issue is clear. Then, when you announced the budget loan for two-thirds, today the debt of the people on apartment mortgages is 11 trillion. But then I said out loud: "Why don't we ask, why don't we decide – two – thirds at least until the age of 35?" Maybe see how many of the 11 trillion young people will fall into two or three? Up to 35 years, at least a little support.

So today, paid education, although today we are talking about quotas, and we are constantly talking in the Duma – all this is being solved, but it is not enough, especially if it is difficult to study for a fee in rural areas. There is only one way left – to the north, although people are also needed in the north: specialists and so on.

That's why you and we all move around the country in two and a half months. And I, as the chairman of the [State Duma] Committee on the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, know everything. The visiting committee in July in Chukotka held, and was in the greenhouse, where they have already made 100 tons of cucumbers.

A school is being built in Egvekinot. Example: Ivanovs are brother and sister. In St. Petersburg, piles are loaded onto the railway track to Vladivostok, and from Vladivostok they must be brought by sea to Egvekinot. This is a feat, for sure.

Anadyr – 13 thousand [people], 50 thousand-Chukotka itself. We went with reindeer herders everywhere, our own people and local people want to work there. Even in a village far from Anadyr, a good guy, 35 years old, I tell him: "Where are you from?" - "From Altai". "Why are you here?" - "Nikolai Mikhailovich, the salary in Altai is 35 thousand rubles." I say :" How much do you get here, in Chukotka? " – "100-110". "But," I say, " life is more expensive here." He says :" There is still a little bit of broth. I'm from the Zonal District [of the Altai Territory], and more young people will come." This is not bad, on the one hand, not bad.

The question that you also voice, and which is constantly on your lips: teachers and doctors-sometimes they say "the average salary for the region" - still need to make the same [salary] in the Federation.

Vladimir Putin: Well, yes.

N. Kharitonov: Doctors, medical workers, FAPs and so on are all the more lacking today. I won't mention the numbers – there are decent numbers, how many doctors are missing. Raise the salaries of teachers and healthcare workers so that they don't have to go to Moscow or St. Petersburg.

I already told you at the Council of Legislators in 2019… By the way, people there are also rare, but they said that they were too hasty with the retirement age – as far as the Far East is concerned. Perhaps, let's take a look, so that-perhaps they are going to BAM today and will go-they can still give young people the opportunity to go from here, so that they directly understand - [they are going] to earn a pension: let them work for 20-22 years, but they will already earn a pension for themselves. If we want to get people there.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, we should think about it.

As for salaries in the social sphere, the Government will be actively engaged in this right now – he also said in his Address. You need to align, you are absolutely right here. People do the same job but get different money. This will be the subject of discussion, including in the Duma.

N. Kharitonov: In some places they invent per capita [financing]. There are three or four [houses] in the countryside, or maybe Lomonosov is studying there. And where to go? We've already caused trouble with optimization.

The countryside is a special topic of conversation, and I also have [proposals] for the development of rural areas here. The population in rural areas is aging.

Vladimir Putin: Yes.

Nikolai Kharitonov: Especially if there is no infrastructure, there is no work to be done. Collective farms, state farms... we lost 23,000 [state farms]. The investor has come, he has a task, as a rule, grain.

Vladimir Putin: What is exported…

N. Kharitonov: That's all good, penny. But we say that calcium is needed, and calcium is milk. Today we have 7.8 million cows left. In Soviet times, we produced 50 million tons of milk, today – 28-31. I saw [Agriculture Minister Dmitry] Patrushev report to you: we have added 700 thousand rubles.

I held a visiting committee in Transbaikalia for three days, went around everything, and Kobzon is respected and remembered there, and there is a stele, and he is there with a star. In Chita, we go to the creamery. I say: "You go to a fish factory in Kamchatka and it smells like fish. You go to the sawmill and it smells like sawdust. I came to see you – it doesn't smell like anything." She told me slowly, all the deputies of different factions: "Nikolai Mikhailovich, 2.5 tons of whole milk per day." "What do you work for?" - "Dry milk from Belarus and Siberia".

Vladimir Putin: Where is it?

N. Kharitonov: Transbaikalia.

The last two livestock farms were closed. After that, I asked Mikhail Vladimirovich [Mishustin] for an appointment, and he agreed. I say, I do not open military secrets: "11 Far Eastern regions, the Arctic, the North-there is heavier, let's make a special program for the development of the agro-industrial complex-fish, caviar." When in 2019 he traveled around the Far East for a week, held a meeting in Blagoveshchensk, I also flew there and spoke. He then, however, did a great job-open, closed ground on vegetables. I say: "It's all good, we need to get rid of scurvy. But there should be meat and dairy products." In Soviet times, there were cows, milk, and meat in abundance.

He signed an order to three ministries to create and develop a special program for the development of the agro-industrial complex, especially since the neighboring neighbor [China] is one and a half billion. We feed our employees, produce and earn money-and all the conversations, but only to give them an opportunity.

The chairman of the government, who is an awardee and always attends the Eastern Economic Forum, is doing very well in the Amur Region, but I have been going there all the time since 2013. Therefore, Mikhail Vladimirovich agreed. I don't know what to do next. I will be holding a committee soon, and almost all the Far Eastern leaders will be there. It's hard work – 24 hours a day cows, milk and calcium, and calcium is our bones. Fell-arm, fell-leg, fell-hip, as a rule. If not – the child doesn't get it, or then the adult doesn't get it. I'm not even talking about the fact that 100 grams of normal cottage cheese should be eaten every day, so that there is calcium, and everything will be fine.

Here are a few suggestions that I will pass on.

I would like to say, directly voice: 43 or 46 regions that have a budget sphere, have adopted their own laws- [category] "children of war". "Children of war" is from June 22, 1928 to September 3, 1945.

I met in Moscow, and a lot of people came-all in one voice about the fact that we were promised gas: "Nikolai Mikhailovich, today everything around us is private land. We don't know how the gas will be pulled. There will be noise, conversations and much more."

There are nine million" Children of war " left, [they need] about 180 billion [rubles] – a little to 200. This category of people has nine million left. We need to take a look: some regional laws have been passed, but we need a federal law. This is a thank you to the generation that sometimes without a father or mother, but worked for the restoration of the country.

A talk on the program… I've been talking for two and a half months.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

Nikolai Kharitonov: You are already responding to many issues today. I would like to believe that later, when we all get together in the Duma, we will implement all that we have worked out together. Social justice: this means salaries and pensions. This is what worries people today.

Vladimir Putin: It's clear.

As for mortgages for young people, including in the Far East…

N. Kharitonov: There are several options.

Vladimir Putin: Yes, but there is an opportunity and need to talk about this topic in more detail – now I will not be under the cameras.

N. Kharitonov: So that all categories can be picked up by young people.

Vladimir Putin: But there's a lot to talk about. And, in principle, resources can be found. We just need to be very careful here, because those of our agencies, including the Central Bank, which are working on the need to maintain the necessary level of macroeconomic indicators, are afraid that this huge mortgage, which we are promoting and doing correctly, is putting a little pressure on inflation.

But we'll talk about this separately.

Nikolai Kharitonov: Everyone was waiting, everyone was scared, the Central Bank rate is 16 percent. Even my granddaughter got married this year in September in Novosibirsk, a girl from Altai, they took out a loan. And today everyone was waiting: maybe not 16 percent – maybe less. Young people bought apartments, and stavochka – 16. It is supposed to be a meeting again, and it seems that they will leave 16 again. We need to see if we can influence it.

Vladimir Putin: No, for young families, for families with children, there is a separate rate, but not 16 percent.

N. Kharitonov: This is still young people without children.

Vladimir Putin: There is an incentive to have your first child.

We'll discuss it. This is a very important question, I fully agree.

You are welcome.

Leonid Slutsky: Mr President, first of all, let me congratulate you on your historic victory.

No percentage between us, how much we scored, does not matter. The difference between us is less than one percent. I wasn't going to talk about this for a long time, but you gave away a secret last night when you spoke to your headquarters: indeed, we gave a significant number of votes to the main candidate of the LDPR members. We gave away a lot, but we have less left for ourselves. I would like to emphasize once again that this does not matter at all. What matters is that today we have confirmed the high authority of the leader of the nation, when the country is probably experiencing the main moment of truth in its recent history - when a holy and noble special military operation is underway, the goal of which is to eradicate Nazism. This is probably the last – let's count on it and hope for it – battle with Nazism in human history. Naturally, it will end with the victory of Russian weapons.

Of course, these elections and this campaign are important not only for Russia, the Russian world, and Russian civilization. [They] have meaning far beyond the borders of our country. Today, based on your ideas and approaches, a new global majority is being created. This is not an Anglo-Saxon world. This is the global South: Africa, Latin America, and a significant part of greater Eurasia. These are those who did not want their fate and how they would develop to be decided in Washington, so that we could have a unipolar world based on blood, as we saw in 1999 in Yugoslavia, in 2003 in Iraq, and then in Libya. And in Syria, we, Russia, did not allow events to follow the same bloody scenario, when undesirable regimes and their leaders are simply wiped off the face of the earth.

Today, a new global majority is, in fact, already actively forming, and Russia is the center of attraction for this new world policy, the system of international relations, and the stable, secure, and balanced world architecture of the new century. And all this is formed around your ideas and approaches. So I want to say: this is a truly historic campaign. That is why the heads of state congratulate us so warmly and will probably continue to do so for a long time to come.

As for our party campaign. I immediately said that I would not talk about any points of the program in advance. We determined these points when we arrived in a large number of regions, based on the wishes of people. I think that we will consult together – with your high coordination – on these points, "expand", and decide without waiting for the end of the SVO. There are certainly sensitive issues for people. More than sensitive.

It just so happens that the Message to the Federal Assembly is, in fact, not a message. For myself, I call this a program for the development of the country and society not only for six years, but for a rather long period. This is a program message, which is why it is so large. This is how we view it. There, the key points, reference points, reference points, positions, in fact, coincided with what we – and I as a candidate-said during the campaign, starting with "Shoulder to shoulder". I made this appeal to Russian citizens last year, regardless of the party card in their pocket, age, place of residence, or religion. As always, Russia stood shoulder to shoulder in those moments when it is difficult, when, indeed, the moment of truth.

All our parliamentary and other political parties – all those who care about the future of Russia-have responded to this call. In the end, it is extremely important that for us it is not rubles, tons, kilometers that matter, but the people for whom we live and work. In fact, any political party exists for the sake of people. [Except in the West.] Vladimir Volfovich always taught us to reach every family, every person. That's where we stand. That is why the party is in a growing trend, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

As for reference points, there are a lot of questions here. Of course, when forming personnel for the state system, for public administration, it is necessary to rely on those who have passed the SVO, with whom you can go into intelligence. It is very important. There are cool guys there, many of them are now entering universities, who have already returned, or are planning to enroll. We are always there.

It is also necessary to understand the new regions. Everything that is significant will happen in the country in the coming years, will happen there-this should be understood. Now we need to work not only on restoring the destroyed infrastructure, but also with people, with their consciousness, with their understanding of how to further develop these potentially very rich regions, restore industry and much, much more.

The minimum wage is 35 thousand rubles by 2030. [~$390] We say: "Maybe 30 thousand, but now?" We have reserves for this, there are opportunities. We need to work on this, look at it, and do it step by step. This is very important today for people who have asked a lot of questions about it.

Support for large families. The country should once again become a country of large families. This is an extremely complex and archived task. And the first step is to simply restore the nursery, nursery groups that have disappeared somewhere, for children from one and a half months to three years old. There were-and there are not, now there are very few of them. I think that we will restore it: it is not such a difficult decision, and the staff is there. This is really the first step so that new mothers can combine motherhood with a professional career.

Housing and Utilities Services. You have said this quite clearly: in some places we were all complacent, crawling from year to year on the Soviet-era networks, and in some regions they completely, one hundred percent, fell into disrepair. It is enough to freeze not only somewhere here in Central Russia,but also Magadan. This is a task that will last at least a few years, or even longer. It can be quite clearly described. You mentioned a very serious amount, which is measured in trillions, which will be allocated until 2030. This is not only the backbone network, there is a major overhaul, there is housing and communal services in the complex.

Support for small businesses and small businesses. We need to be very careful about the transition from a simplified form to a general form of taxation, which was again very clearly stated in your Message.

Small businesses should not be stifled by numerous instructions but supported. I believe that for small businesses, taxes should be abolished altogether, except for personal income tax, of course, if they do not work in the "gray" zone, without any envelopes. This is a principled position, we must support small businesses in the country, and then from small it will be medium-sized and so on. We have a lot of talented and creative people, including young people, who are engaged in small businesses, but it is not so easy to engage in them due to various instructions and the current tax scale.

Then there are doctors and teachers, which, in particular, Nikolai Mikhailovich said. We must speak frankly: the country lacks about 25 thousand doctors, 50 thousand average health workers. It's very simple: the new is a well-forgotten old. No need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to introduce mandatory distribution from medical universities and colleges, as it was in our time. Three years to work for the country that gave you a higher medical education; maybe in new regions and in the Far East, for example, for a year and a half – you need to look. In a couple of years, the problem can be "expanded" by making such a decision at the Government level in the coming months.

Of course, salaries are a very important issue. We are in the same country, but when we move from region to region, we find ourselves in a slightly different world. We have an average salary of teachers in the Leningrad region – 30 thousand rubles, in Ulyanovsk-18 thousand, in Novosibirsk-44 thousand, in Moscow – 103 thousand rubles per month. We need people to live with dignity in all regions without exception.

One of the tasks is to really equalize salaries. This is not so easy today, but it can be done step-by-step for those who teach and treat us. Since the Soviet era, we have not yet been able to "expand" this problem, now we need to deal with it step by step. We have a corresponding vision and programs that are coordinated with hundreds of representatives of these professions that are important for us and for young people, if we talk about teachers. I think that this should be dealt with in the very near future, more seriously, which is also mentioned in the Message.

Young people leave the village. When we finished, we flew to megacities and universities there. They tried to solve the problem in different ways (it has not yet been solved) – this is the problem of a qualitative reduction in the mortgage lending rate for rural youth. I have declared 2024 the Year of Rural Youth in the LDPR. And then, indeed, I graduated from high school, built up on completely different conditions, and where I was born, there I came in handy. And then there will be agricultural holdings, jobs, and creative space.

Otherwise, [it will be] as you warned in your pre-election article back in 2012, "Building Justice. Social Policy for Russia" [in English] : there you have a good section called "Saving Russia", this is my desktop article.

If we do this, we can turn into an empty space between megacities. In general, we need to develop issues related, among other things, to the return of compatriots who are ready to return. We have a brilliant program from Sergey Vladilenovich Kiriyenko: "Russia is a land of opportunities". But so far, only 70 people in the international bloc receive passports annually.

We need to return those who have been registered in our consular offices abroad for many years and resolve these issues in order to really – as you wrote in this article – not turn into an "empty space" (literally), "whose fate will not be decided by us".

This apocalyptic scenario, of course, is not for us, but we need to work on it. One of the most important factors, and it can be "expanded" in a few years, if we are realistic, is that rural youth stop leaving the village.

The same applies, by the way, to the Far East. Nikolai Mikhailovich [Kharitonov], as the chairman of the relevant State Duma Committee, will not let anyone lie: we need to gradually raise salaries. Young people should strive to pass this harsh but important vocational school, strive to go to the Far East, and not leave there, because salaries there are quite low.

All this can really be solved in stages, by industry, by infrastructure-important enterprises as reference points, within a few years. Step-by-step. We also have an appropriate vision for this.

I have named only a part of the program that we have. We will certainly implement it. The country needs it, the people need it. We're not going anywhere. But it is better to implement this, of course, earlier, step-by-step, especially where it is really impossible to solve anything with a cavalry charge. For example, [the issue of] mandatory distribution of doctors and graduates of medical colleges, former medical schools, can be resolved right now.

Of course, the "fair price": our elderly people come to the store, they are used to [that the package volume is usually] a liter, a kilogram, and there it is written in small letters: "900 grams", "910 grams", "930 grams". Let's see what this "fair price" means on a national scale. We have introduced a corresponding initiative. We will work it out with the Government. People talk about this as a very important issue.

People are also concerned about the exorbitantly increased recycling fee for a car. Somehow here a little muddied, overdone. I think that all this can be "embroidered" very easily, if you really do it. The eyes are afraid, but the hands do.

The program is absolutely clear, with a very clear vision of what exactly to work out with the Government. We will report the most significant issues to you, in order to really achieve step-by-step implementation in the very near future, much can be done this year.

About the fact that these reference points coincided with the Message. We haven't exchanged messages or talked about any issues until today.We are just checking our watches on this issue today. So it's actually very simple here: this proves that we are on the right track.

And indeed, these are strong points, strong problems that need to be solved immediately, which really interest people to a very high degree, our population – those for whom we work as political parties. Therefore, this should be done immediately.

The LDPR is now continuing its intensive work. I'll say it again: As Vladimir Volfovich taught, we reach everyone. We don't have any unsubscriptions. I respond to everyone in 48 hours, despite the colossal increase in the number of requests, so that the party is truly a reliable political force today. It is in this regard that we will continue to work to reach every person and every family so that these tasks are solved.

In a nutshell, probably so.

Thanks

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Leonid Eduardovich, you have raised a number of questions, and all of them are important, but I will draw your attention to two.

Nikolai Mikhailovich has already mentioned this-equalization of income in the social sphere in different regions of the Russian Federation. But there is another question connected with this – the question of sources, as I also mentioned in my Message. This applies to proposals for changes in the tax system. Here we need to be very careful, we need to create a system that we do not change, it should be stable for at least six years.

We have just mentioned this – the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has always said that the tax system should be fair. We had a lot of arguments about this. As you can see, we have approached this carefully.

This will be one of such serious discussions in the Parliament. The Government will offer its own solutions.

L. Slutsky: It is necessary-it is necessary.

Vladimir Putin: How, from whom, how much.

Here you need to be very careful, but the decisions must be verified.

I very much hope that all the political parties represented in the parliament will address these issues in the most serious way during this discussion: you will involve both analysts and specialists, there are enough of them in our country. And we will all come to the golden mean, find these verified solutions.

Thank you very much.

Vladislav Andreevich, please.

Vladimir Davankov: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,

I congratulate you on your victory-a confident victory.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you.

Vladimir Davankov: I will try to be brief.

This week, the Kiev regime again viciously strikes at the Belgorod region. It so happened that together with the team on December 31 last year, I myself was in Belgorod. After another such night strike, our volunteers helped to clear the rubble, we met with the families of the victims, these are civilians. These are really mean blows. I want to tell you that, of course, there is no justification for such actions of the Kiev regime.

I traveled through 29 regions during this campaign, and in all regions people are working for our common victory. Everyone does what they can. As a faction, we also try to do the best we can. I myself supervise the Luhansk People's Republic in the party, I visit there. There are several projects, such as "People's First Aid Kits". These are projects that help our fighters. Now, in such a difficult time, we are constantly sending humanitarian supplies.

You were absolutely right to say that our common goal is to win a special military operation and achieve sustainable peace. I also spoke about this in the campaign – that it is very important not to leave this confrontation to the next generation, but to solve it for our generation.

To be honest, people sincerely say this during meetings and believe that only you can be such a person – only you can win this confrontation and as the leader of the country. Actually, the elections show this. I have held more than 100 meetings, and many people came and said that " I will vote for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, and you will help us resolve some issues." I have more than a thousand such questions.

Some of them we helped solve on the spot, for example, to get a certificate of a large mother, while others remained. We will, in fact, continue to solve them with the team.

Immediately after the Message, I went to Rostov, where I met with entrepreneurs. First, they also talk about the support they provide to our fighters. But they really applauded when you spoke about an amnesty for splitting up businesses. This is the first feedback.

And in other areas. You know, the New People party works a lot with young people, we have a lot of young activists. And of course, they were encouraged that there would be a national youth project. They primarily, of course, talk about professional self-realization. Our young people are good, they want to develop, work in Russia, and work in their own cities. What we talked about, about self-realization, is, of course, very important.

They say they want to start a family. Nikolai Mikhailovich spoke today about the mortgage. Of course, the first question they always have is the question of their own housing, where they will live: not with their parents, but to create their own cell. This is one of the questions, they are all there, I have prepared them. I think that we will work together with the Government and find some solutions, because every such decision is difficult and expensive. But there were some examples in Russia when the issue of demography was resolved: on Sakhalin in the early 2010s, when such support gave a sharp jump in the birth rate and our families had children.

I want to congratulate you once again on your victory, a confident victory. The team and I will continue to work on the issues that were identified during these meetings.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

Yes, socio-economic issues are at the top tied to the War against the West—the Nazis—where Russians expect their Champion Putin to lead Russia to victory. But the War isn’t just about Ukraine as Putin and his Team know. It’s all tied-up in the formation of a new world system that’s not ruled by the Western Dictatorship. I expected the three men to mostly agree with Putin’s Leap Day Federal Assembly Address, its goals and programs. In my reading about the big problem related to the distribution of medical workers, I wondered if a return to the Soviet solution would return, and here it was specifically mentioned for the cameras. IMO, it’s crazy that Russia’s growth rate will probably exceed 5% for 2024 with the central bank rate at 16%—yes, there’re special programs and many lower cost loans, so an actual average would be nice to discover. A question I’ve been asking myself for the last several years is how much of the Soviet System will be reinstated going forward. Economically, Russia’s developing into the power it always had the potential to become; but to solve its socio-economic issues, Russia needs several decades of continual peace. Unlike the West, however, Russia is clearly united as the three losing candidates all expressed; so, the election outcome was really closer to 98% or more for Putin—an outcome that looks Banana Republic-like but is actually a genuine democratic expression by a clearly united Russia regardless what the lying Western press spouts.

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