Vladimir Putin tried to reassure Russians that “we’re moving in the right direction” even as the economy struggles out of recession, using his annual call-in show with citizens to promise urgent steps on painful problems like rising gasoline prices.
As in past years, the event -- carried live on state television -- was marked by the contrast between the president’s upbeat report on the economy and the sometimes desperate tone of the questioners about how to make ends meet on shrunken incomes. Putin seemed to acknowledge the disconnect, saying as he touted data on rising living standards that “of course not every person feels this but on the whole, these are absolutely objective statistics, it’s the truth.”
