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  1. And with that salutation to the great woman inevitably standing behind any great man, we end up our coverage of the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It's a wrap!
  2. 4:42 p.m. — Putin thanks everybody who came to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, thanks the host for his “friendly” tone. Also thanks Rose's executive producer, “a delightful young woman,” for her help during the session. Leaves the hall.
  3. 4:42 p.m. — "We aim to make our economy freer, and more effective and diversified," he said. "We want to revive the high-tech industries, where we can and must be competitive."
  4. 4:42 p.m. — "We are not behaving aggressively," says Putin. "We are more assertive in defending our interests. We have been pressed to the point that we have nowhere to step back. Russia does not want to be hegemonic, or a superpower. It wants to have an equal relationship with all parties."
  6. 4:38 p.m. — Final question from Rose about the role Russia wants to play in the world. "People have said that you have more unconstrained power than other leaders," he says. How do you make Russia a serious part of the solution, as the great power that it is?
  7. 4:35 p.m. — The future of relations between Russia and any other country does not depend only on Russia, Putin says. Most German companies remain present and active in Russia despite the sanctions, according to the president.
  8. 4:31 p.m. — “It’s high time to stop these sanctions,” says Heinz Hermann Thiele, owner and chairman of the supervisory board of Germany company Knorr-Bremse AG, to applause. European countries were affected differently by the mutual sanctions, but Germany was hit hard, he says. Sanctions have only boosted Russia’s turn toward the East, he laments.
  10. 4:24 p.m. — Sanctions have positive aspects as well as negative ones, Putin says. "The current situation is not a catastrophe for us," he says. "We want to reach economic growth of world average rates of 3.5 percent," he says. Russia also aims to lower inflation to 4 percent and increase labor efficiency by 5 percent per annum, Putin says.
  11. 4:21 p.m. — Rose has a question about how Russia's economy can be developed further, particularly in terms of its institutions.
  12. 4.10 p.m. — Ronnie Chichung Chan, chairman of Hang Lung Properties in Hong Kong, asks Putin to urge Russian businessmen to have a strategic vision for their work in China. Why don’t Russian companies list on the Hong Kong stock exchange? Putin agrees that Russian companies should work more with China.
  13. 4.09 p.m. — The discussion is now turning to the economy.
  14. 4.08 p.m. — Are you ready to call on Bashar Assad to step down? Rose asks Putin. "You are a true American: I tell you that it should be done without foreign interference, and you ask me this question," Putin says, to laughter.
  16. 4.07 p.m. — Ramzan Kadyrov, the outspoken strongman leader of Russia’s southern Chechen republic, is in the audience.
  17. 4.04 p.m. — Putin says Russia fears Syria could turn into another Libya or Iraq. There were no terrorists there before Hussein and Gaddafi were removed from power. "Saddam was hanged and what next? Islamic State!” says Putin.
  18. 4.04 p.m. — Now a question on Syria: Does Putin see any way out of the current situation?
  19. 4.02 p.m. — Putin is upbeat about the Iran nuclear deal. Says the process of its implementation is important. "What is important is for the U.S. to support this process," he says.
  20. 4.01 p.m. — So far, this year's speech and plenary session are very similar to last year’s. Same questions, same answers.
  22. 4 p.m. — Putin mentions once again that nobody spoke to Russia about it when Ukraine decided to sign an association agreement with the EU.
  23. 3.57 p.m. — Now an interesting story from Putin about the European Union's Eastern Partnership project. "Our first reaction to this idea was positive because we thought that Russia and these Eastern European countries are closely interconnected," he says. "If Europe starts to bring them closer, then Europe will inevitably start to bring Russia closer too, but none of that happened," he says.
  24. 3.56 p.m. — Yes, Russia wants to be respected — like any other country in the world, Putin says. "We want to develop our interests, but not at the expense of our partners," he says.
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