All in all, about 160,000 questions had been asked. The most popular of them could be rated upward by voting on the Yandex portal, but this novelty quickly turned into a "flash mob" event. As a result, the "top five" became composed of questions about the prospects of using combat humanoid robots for the defense of Russia and the awakening of mythical wizard Ktulkhu.
V. Putin answered 49 questions posed by Internet users. More than half of them, to be exact 26, dealt with Russia's domestic problems. about the same number – 23 questions touched on international subjects. The category of personal questions, which was the most numerous at the time of the collection of questions, was represented by just three questions.
The first question dealt with the recent launching by North Korea of several missiles in the close proximity of Russia's borders. "We are disappointed with what is going on in this area, but we see no threat to our security from that side", said V. Putin.
"We have no reason to think that North Korea's missile program is aimed at Russia, while the defense capabilities of Russia and North Korea are incomparable," he explained.
A question about Iran: Will Russia support sanctions?
"I agree with you that it is counterproductive to be forever waiting. But it is still more counterproductive to drive the problem to a kind of impasse, from which we shall later not know how to extricate ourselves. Therefore, I would prefer not to rush things and not to speak of sanctions now but rather concentrate on the implementation of proposals formulated by the six nations. The Iranian leadership, as far as I know, has announced its readiness for such a dialog next August. In our opinion, it should be held sooner. But we have to take into account the opinion of the other side too. In the final account, I believe it would be right if the problem were returned not to the UN Security Council and we were not talking about sanctions, but to the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the level of professionals".
Asked about what, in his opinion, was concealed in the soul of the US leader, the Russian President said that he considered George Bush a decent person. "He is a good partner not only to speak with but also to agree with", emphasized V. Putin.
The Russian President explained the situation with the increase of the gas tariffs for Ukraine as follows:
"Why does Russia have to give away, at knock-down prices, its property and its natural resources to other partners who are our peers at the international arena? Russia has been providing gas to its close neighbors at non-market prices for 15 years. We have been conducting negotiations with our partners, including Ukraine, for a long time, constantly, each year, saying that we have to fix those prices at market figures. Early last year we reached such an understanding with president Yushchenko. Actually, the talks were held at his initiative. Regretfully, after that, at a practical level, we failed to get any clear answer, nor agreement on that question. So we had to suspend gas supplies – and I would like to highlight this point – not to Western Europe, but to Ukraine. And our Ukrainian partners were quite aware of what it might lead to".
V. Putin noted that Russia had learned the lessons of the "Dutch disease". As he said, at present the government was diversifying national economy.
The Russian President commented on the information posted in the web about a planned military operation by Georgia against South Ossetia. V. Putin noted that Russia respects the principle of territorial integrity of other countries and would insist on decisions on regional conflicts be made according to a general principle, no matter if it concerned Kosovo, Abkhazia or South Ossetia.
"As for using force in zones of potential conflict, where interethnic conflicts and bloodshed have already happened, it would be an unpardonable mistake if someone took it into his head to stage such provocations. I cannot call it anything else but provocations", said the Russian President. "Frankly, I was surprised to hear that a Museum of Occupation has been opened up in Tbilisi. I bluntly asked my colleague Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili: What is this talk about occupation? Who occupied whom? If you take the Stalin times, then nearly all USSR leadership were natives of the Caucasus, while all security services were headed by Georgians. Nearly all of them, even in other national republics. So what are we talking about? Such attitudes, in my view, can only harm our relations ".
One of the Internet users invited the President to share his personal happy event – the birth of a son. The happy father asked the President whether the child was lucky to have been born in Russia?
"You cannot choose your homeland, like you cannot choose your parents, answered V. Putin. No doubt, our country will, within 10-15 years, come close to our European partners in terms of living standards. Considering our huge territory, immense intellectual potential, and natural resources, it may surely become very comfortable for our citizens. But, what is most important and what I strive for is that our country were a country of great opportunities for any man, so that any its citizen might make a success of his life".
