Global General

Putin: Russia must be strong to resist threats

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-04-20 17:54

MOSCOW (AP) _ Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Russia needs to be strong to fend off foreign threats to its sovereignty.

He said in an annual address to parliament Wednesday that a key lesson of the global financial crisis is that vulnerability to economic shocks could undermine national sovereignty. He said Russia must be "independent and strong" to resist outside pressure.

Putin boasted about what he called his Cabinet's successes in facing the global crisis. He said Russia has an annual economic growth of more than 4 percent that will allow its economy to fully compensate for losses from the crisis by 2012.

Putin, who was president in 2000-08, is widely expected to reclaim the job in next March's election. He didn't discuss his plans Wednesday in what sounded like a campaign speech.