Putin's Closed Meeting With Russian Media Chifs

Vladimir Putin discussed Russia's success in the defense industry, the fight against COVID-19, protests in defense of Navalny and relations with the West, and more with the editor in chiefs of Russian media.

A big conversation took place last week, as they say, in a non-public format. But then the Kremlin decided to publish the details of the meeting.

Despite the pandemic and the restrictions associated with it, the president has no shortage of communication with the press. For example, just two months ago there was a big press conference. By tradition, although in a new format, Putin answered journalists' questions for several hours.

The meeting with the chief editors of the media is also an annual event, but the conversation at it is about more global, if not to say, conceptual topics. The meeting with the editor-in-chief took place, as they say, "not for publication," but some details of this frank conversation were leaked to the press, after which the Kremlin published some of the responses. Who and what exactly asks questions remained behind the scenes, but they spoke, in particular, about the recent attempts to provoke street riots in Russian cities and what this means from the point of view of geopolitics.

All this is largely, in Putin's opinion, a manifestation of the policy of containing Russia. The West does not succeed. Therefore, elements of irritation are more and more clearly felt. Perhaps no less annoying "potential opponents" and our successes in the economy.

For three consecutive years Russia has been the world leader in wheat export, for example. Agriculture is not just booming - it has, in fact, been resurrected from the ashes. A surprise for the West, according to Putin, was the success of Russian doctors and scientists in the fight against COVID-19.

Russian healthcare showed such results not just because the authorities "invested" in it, but because they "developed" it. This is the result of systematic work, a systematic approach. It is for the even development of the country in all main areas that the national projects were launched by the presidential decree. They have set more ambitious goals than previous programs.