Russian officials express support for Vladimir Putin following state of nation address

(29 Feb 2024) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: PLEASE NOTE: AP IS OPERATING IN RUSSIA ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN RESTRICTIONS ON ALL REPORTING RELATED TO THE ONGOING MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING ASSOCIATED PRESS Moscow, Russia - 29 February 2024 1. People leaving conference hall after state of nation address by President Vladimir Putin 2. Wide of journalists, people 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Maria Butina, Russian State Duma deputy: “I see that we are united, we all stand together, and we stand for our country and our leader. That’s what I see in the hall today, that’s what I see on the streets of Moscow, that’s what I see in the streets of small cities and towns, that got a lot of support from today.“ 4. Mid of Russian Communist Party’s leader Gennady Zyuganov 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Aleksey Pushkov, Member of Federation Council of Russian Federal Assembly: “I don’t think that the Biden administration or British government will like very much the message, for two reasons. First, because, I think that Putin made it clear that Russia will not withdraw from the goals of its military operation in Ukraine, and those goals will be pursued in spite of the fact that the West is enhancing its military assistance to Ukraine. And the second reason is that they won’t like this speech, because it is a speech of a leader of a country that feels itself quite sure about its future. The country is going up, it’s not going down.“ 6. Mid of journalists 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Aleksey Pushkov, Member of Federation Council of Russian Federal Assembly: “Expenses that were mentioned, which will be spent on social programs, the development of transportation, small cities, help to families, and so on, those are very important sums of money and the country which is in isolation or feels very big difficulties, does not have any openings for the foreign markets and so on, the country which is isolated, cannot formulate such goals and cannot formulate such long term programs.“ 8. Wide of journalists, people STORYLINE: Senior Russian officials expressed their support for President Vladimir Putin following his state of nation address Thursday. The 2-hour Moscow speech was a stand of unity for State Duma deputy Maria Butina. “We all stand together, and we stand for our country and our leader,“ Butina said. The address may be disliked by the West, said Russian lawmaker Aleksey Pushkov. Firstly, Pushkov said, because “Putin made it clear that Russia will not withdraw from the goals of its military operation in Ukraine.“ The second reason he said, speaking of the economy, the “country is going up, it’s not going down.“ =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel 44(0)2074827482 Email: info@. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: