Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual Q&A broadcast with Russians on Wednesday where he responds to questions from people across the country.
Here are the major statements of the event on Russia-developed Sputnik V vaccine, lockdown, mandatory vaccination, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"I chose to be vaccinated with Sputnik V"
Putin revealed that he had received Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
"I thought that I needed to be protected as long as possible. So I chose to be vaccinated with Sputnik V," Putin said. "The military is getting vaccinated with Sputnik V, and after all I'm the commander-in-chief."
In the same vein, he expressed his full rejection to imposing nationwide mandatory COVID vaccinations.
"I don't support mandatory vaccination, and I continue to hold this point of view."
Avoiding New Nationwide Lockdown
The Russian President hopes that his country would be able to avoid a new nationwide lockdown amid a surge in new cases.
Thus, he urged Russians to get vaccinated amid signs of growing vaccine hesitancy in the country.
"It is necessary to listen, not to people who understand little about this and spread rumours, but to specialists," he noted.
Putin on Russia-Ukraine Ties
The president also talked about Russia's troubled relations with Ukraine, saying that Zelensky "has given up his country to full external control."
"Why should I meet with Zelensky if he has given up his country to full external control?" he said, noting that key issues related to Ukraine are not resolved in Kyiv, but in Washington and partly in Berlin and Paris.
"What is there to discuss? I'm not refusing (to meet him), I just need to understand what to talk about."
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