Putin says confident Russia to be ready to host 2018 World Cup

[December 14, 2017]    MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he was confident that Russia would have everything ready to host the 2018 soccer World Cup as it has a vast experience in holding major sports events.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

"I am sure that everything will be up to standard and on time," Putin told an annual press conference.

(Reporting by Jack Stubbs, Vladimir Soldatkin and Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)

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