Putin curbs anti-Western rhetoric, says
wants to get on with Trump
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[December 01, 2016]
By Katya Golubkova and Denis Pinchuk
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin
struck an unusually conciliatory tone in his annual state of the nation
address on Thursday, saying Moscow wanted to get on with the incoming
U.S. administration and was looking to make friends not enemies.
Putin has used previous set-piece speeches to lash out at the West and
the United States in particular, but he reined in his criticism this
time round and focused most of his speech on domestic social and
economic issues.
"We don't want confrontation with anyone. We don't need it. We are not
seeking and have never sought enemies. We need friends," Putin told
Russia's political elite gathered in one of the Kremlin's grandest
halls.
"We are ready to cooperate with the new U.S. administration. We have a
shared responsibility to ensure international security."
Any U.S.-Russia co-operation would have to be mutually beneficial and
even-handed, he said.
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Putin has spoken previously of his hope that U.S. President-elect Donald
Trump may help restore tattered U.S.-Russia relations, and analysts said
he was unlikely to want to dial up anti-Western rhetoric before Trump's
inauguration in January.
The Russian leader said he was hoping to find common ground with
Washington on fighting global terrorism in particular.
That was a reference to Syria where Moscow is backing President Bashar
al-Assad, while the outgoing U.S. administration has supported
anti-Assad rebels.
Russia hopes Trump will give Russia a freer hand there and cooperate
militarily to fight Islamic State.
Putin's tone may have been softer than usual, but he still made it clear
that Russia would continue to robustly stand up for its own interests.
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![](../images/120116pics/news_r31.jpg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during his annual
state of the nation address at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia,
December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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Complaining about what he said were "myths" about Russian aggression
and Russian meddling in other countries' elections, he said Moscow
wanted to independently decide its own fate.
"We will build our future without advice from anyone else," said
Putin.
The main target of Putin's speech appeared to be the Russian people
though.
His message was that the worst of a grinding economic crisis was in
the past and that it was now time to focus on improving living
standards by investing more heavily in education and health.
The next presidential election takes place in 2018, and though he
has not said yet if he will seek another term, Putin is widely
expected to run.
(Additional reporting by Andrey Kuzmin, Maria Tsvetkova, Andrey
Ostroukh, Polina Devitt, Maria Kiselyova, Dasha Korsunskaya; Writing
by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe)
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