This year’s Direct Line call-in show with Vladimir Putin has begun in Moscow, with Putin due to answer questions from a carefully vetted audience of journalists and members of the public.

For the second year in a row, the event has been combined with Putin’s annual press conference.

We will be bringing you a summary of updates and significant announcements from the Direct Line.

The Russian economy is in a “stable state” despite all the challenges, including those “from the outside”, Putin said, noting that inflation remained a “worrying sign” at 9.2-9.3%.

Putin claimed, however, that economic growth in Russia was faster than EU economies, and that real wages in the country had increased by 9%.

The Russian government has banned independent media. We were forced to leave our country in order to keep doing our job, telling our readers about what is going on Russia, Ukraine and Europe.

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