Overview
- Putin repeated Kremlin lines on Ukraine, blamed Kyiv for failed talks, said Russia was ready for a deal only if its "root causes" are addressed, and praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace efforts.
- He acknowledged slower growth of about 1% and justified raising VAT to 22% as a fiscal necessity, indicating the increase is intended to be temporary.
- The broadcast featured curated questions on wages, pensions, social payments and military families alongside offbeat moments including an aliens query and a live marriage proposal.
- Despite tight vetting, sarcastic on-screen texts briefly appeared, with messages calling the event a “circus” and complaining about living standards, internet outages and censorship.
- Hundreds of domestic and foreign journalists attended at Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor for a session lasting more than four hours, with moderators Pavel Zarubin and Yekaterina Berezovskaya guiding the event and Sber’s GigaChat helping sort submissions.