Vladimir Putin held his annual news conference, which lasted three hours and 44 minutes. Here's the play-by-play of everything he said -- and the many reactions -- at the yearly spectacle.
Key Highlights
-- The Russian president cast Russia’s sluggish economy in a positive light, while calling for improvements.
-- Putin criticized the United States for abandoning Cold War-era nuclear arms treaties, saying that the risk of a devastating war should not be underestimated.
-- Putin repeated his claim that Kyiv was to blame for an incident in which Russian forces fired on Ukrainian naval vessels off Russian-held Crimea on November 25.
-- Putin reiterated Russian denials of a series of accusations of what Western officials have called "malign activities" around the globe.
-- The president lashed out over the creation of an independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, where a church linked with Russia has long dominated.
-- Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny is holding his own live-stream of the Putin press conference.
-- Putin’s year-end question-and-answer event is closely managed. Only specially selected publications are given the chance to ask a question, which usually range from a bit of geopolitical issues to a lot of local concerns.