The 11 Best Quips From Putin's Annual Press Conference
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a marathon press conference Thursday in which he discussed the economy, the collapse of the ruble, Ukraine, China, tensions with the West, talk of a "new Cold War," and more.
Over the course of the three-and-a-half-hour press conference, Putin also made quite a few witty remarks. We've picked out some of the best ones.
He compared Russia to a bear that the West wants to chain up and subdue:
He compared Russia's invasion of the Ukranian peninsula of Crimea to taking Texas from Mexico:
He dismissed the notion of a coup in Russia:
And then got a little silly:
He discussed his love life:
He bashed NATO, comparing it to the Berlin Wall:
He made this semi-threatening pronouncement:
Putin said he doesn't even know how much money he makes in his role as president:
He made clear that he's not concerned that someone else could take the presidency away from him:
He insisted that there are no elites in Russia and thanks the country's "peasants" who live in poverty:
He made a joke about a reporter who was asking a question being drunk. It later emerged that the man had survived multiple strokes: