President Vladimir Putin vowed today that Russia would rapidly recover from its financial crisis and said his grip on power was firm, even as new Western sanctions and a run on the ruble pile on the pressure.
The Russian strongman, who is locked in a confrontation with the West, showed no willingness to change tack on Ukraine and dismissed the possibility of the country's elite turning against him.
Sanctions-hit Russia is grappling with a ruble collapse seen as a major test for Putin, whose pact with voters has been based on the relative prosperity brought by years of high oil prices.
"Yes, these are not easy times," Putin told his end-of-the-year news conference, acknowledging that oil prices could keep falling.
He said Russia would adjust to low oil prices, but he gave no recipe for turning the economy around.
"Under the most unfavourable world conditions, such a situation can last two years," Putin said.
"It could improve earlier, too," he said, praising efforts by the central bank and the government to stabilise the ruble.
Putin appeared tense at the start of the three-and-a-half-hour news conference but quickly recovered to show he was a man in control and even said he didn't regret letting his archrival Mikhail Khodorkovsky out of prison last year.
"Godspeed, let him work," Putin said, referring to the former billionaire who has said he is ready to replace Putin and lead Russia in times of crisis.
The president also laughed off the threat of a coup.
"As for palace coups, calm down," Putin said in response to a question about whether he could be ousted.
"We don't have palaces therefore we cannot have a palace coup. We have the Kremlin official residence, it's well-protected, and this is also a factor of our state stability."
But more importantly, Putin stressed, a majority of Russians supported him.
"People in their hearts and minds feel that we and me in particular act in the interests of a majority of the Russian population."
Signs have been emerging over the past weeks of discontent among some officials in the top echelons of power over Putin's confrontation with the West and mounting economic trouble.
