http://www.themoscowtimes.com/mobile/article/putin-shows-hes-back-in-business/473467.html
On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin presided over a four and a half-hour news gathering, which signaled a return of the old days of his presidency. The president seemed to be comfortable when he was answering often unscripted questions from more than 60 journalists. He ignored attempts by his spokesman Dmitry Peskov to end the performance after 4 hours had gone by. The event for the reporters was held in the World Trade Center, in western Moscow, instead of the Kremlin.
A reporter from Izvestia accused Putin of building an authoritarian regime for personal power for 12 years. He asked, "Don't you think that this hinders Russia's development?" Putin said his decision to heed the constitution instead of changing it in 2008 and serving as prime minister for four years was ample proof that he was not authoritarian. He argued that it was not Moscow's fault that the U.S.- Russian "reset" offered by President Barack Obama was necessary. "We didn't make the name, it was suggested by our american partners," he said, adding that ties had deteriorated because of the Iraq war and U.S plans to install a missile defense system in Europe.
Later on, the audience was upbeat when a reporter for the Lifenews.ru online tabloid asked Putin when the end of the world was going to be. The president replied with: "In about 4.5 billion years when the sun will turn into a white dwarf." When Putin finally called the event over, the hall applauded.
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