Editor's note: Jill Dougherty is a public policy scholar with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Wash...
Editor's note: Jill
Dougherty is a public policy scholar with the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars in Washington. She was CNN's Moscow
bureau chief for nine years.
Moscow (CNN) -- President Vladimir Putin's news conferences aren't at all like news conferences I used to attend in Washington, when I covered the White House.
First, there are the
stuffed animals. Since there are more than 1,200 journalists in the
giant hall, they have to attract President Putin's attention some way,
so some bring stuffed animals, raise home-made signs, or wear T-shirts
specially printed up to advertise the region or news organization they
come from.
Then there's the length of the conference. This one was the usual length -- three and a half hours. Others have been longer.
This was Vladimir Putin's 10th news conference
and it couldn't have happened at a worse time. As the Russians say, the
smell of kerosene was in the air. The value of the Russian currency,
the ruble, was dropping like a stone, the U.S. and Europe were just
announcing yet more sanctions, Russia was on the verse of a recession,
but the president refused to call it a "crisis."
Striding into the hall,
Putin appeared cool, calm and collected. Close-ups of the president's
face were broadcast on two giant screens on either side of the hall, his
every glance, every gesture visible.
Putin's first challenge
was to assure his fellow citizens that Russia can overcome what he
called an "unfavorable scenario" and he promised that would happen -- in
two years, maybe less.
There was no real mea
culpa for Russia's economic predicament. Putin admitted only that the
Russian Central Bank and the government could have reacted more quickly
to the economic challenges. Instead, he blamed Russia's economic woes on
"external" factors, asserting that economic sanctions account for just
"25 to 30%" of Russia's economic problems.
When a BBC reporter asked
him about a "new" Cold War, Putin leaned forward like an athlete,
insisting that that Russia is simply defending its own interests.
Moscow, he said, has only two military bases outside its territory but
the U.S. has bases "all over the world." They told us there would be no
NATO expansion, he complained, and now the West is building new virtual
walls around Russia.
Putin is adept at turning
the tables. One journalist asked him about reprisals by Chechen
authorities against the families of alleged terrorists, accusing
Russia's government-financed TV channels of igniting hatred in society.
Putin quickly pointed to
the torture report just released by the White House. The U.S. he said,
"legalized torture" and even developed a method for carrying it out.
"How do you explain that?" he asked indignantly.
Putin spoke for several
minutes on the image of the Russian "bear." The West, he claimed, won't
leave the bear in peace, but wants to "chain" it, "de-claw it," unless
it sits obediently in the forest, eating berries.
If there was one
promising note, it was the Russian president's statement that the
conflict in eastern Ukraine should be settled peacefully. He
acknowledged that there were Russians in eastern Ukraine, but they were
"volunteers."
Surprisingly, the
president called on some journalists who are not known as being friendly
to the Kremlin and there were some uncomfortable questions. When Putin
said there's a "fine line" between the opposition and a "Fifth Column"
-- in other words, traitors to Russia -- reporters twice followed up
with pointed questions, including a demand that he name those members of
the "Fifth Column." He did not.
Others asked him what is the salary of Igor Sechin, head of the Russian oil giant Rosneft? He said he didn't know.
In one of the most
dramatic questions, a Russian reporter asked Putin if he is worried that
members of his inner circle could carry out a "palace coup?"
Putin, who in spite of his somewhat fierce image abroad, does have a sense of humor, defused the question with a smile.
"We can't have a palace
coup because we have no palaces," he said. Stability is based on support
of the Russian people, he said, and "the people believe we are acting
in their interest."
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