Declining in the polls, Vladimir Putin assured Wednesday want to improve the quality of life of his compatriots, but has also shown readiness to deploy the new weapons of Russia against Western countries.
Less than a year after being re-elected for a fourth term with an unprecedented score in nearly 20 years of power, the Russian president sees his confidence rating plummet to its lowest levels since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, under the effect of a very unpopular raising of the retirement age and a rise in VAT on 1 January.
After having ensured at the beginning of his annual speech to Parliament that he wanted to focus on the economic and social situation and detailed assistance to large families or the situation of hospitals and schools, he embarked, as last year, in a a very threatening tirade towards the United States and in response to the deployment of new American weapons systems in Europe.
"Russia does not intend to deploy the first of such missiles in Europe. If they are deployed and delivered on the European continent, this will seriously aggravate the situation and create serious threats for Russia, "said the Russian president, noting that some of these devices could reach" Moscow in 10-12 minutes. "
"I will say it clearly and openly: Russia will be forced to deploy weapons that can be used not only against the territories from which a direct threat may come, but also against the territories where the decision centers of use are located. missiles threatening us, "he continued.
Washington must "calculate"
Washington has suspended its participation in the INF treaty banning ground-to-surface missiles with a range of 500 to 5500 km, accusing Russia of violating the provisions of that document signed in 1987. In return, Moscow has done the same and, except a coup de theater, the treaty will become obsolete in August.
Vladimir Putin accused the United States of using "imaginary accusations against Russia to motivate their unilateral exit", warning that Russia was "ready for negotiations", but did not intend to "knock on a closed door".
He called on Americans to "calculate the range and speed of new armaments to come" before "making their decisions that could create new serious threats."
The Russian president discussed at length the progress in the development of new weapons - "invincible" and "hypersonic" missiles or new nuclear submarines - presented in detail last year in his speech to Parliament two weeks before to be re-elected with 76% of the votes.
Less than a year later, the head of state's 66-year-old popularity rating was, according to the independent Levada center, 64 percent in January, its lowest level since the annexation of Crimea just five years ago, compared to 80% at the time of his re-election.
According to other recent polls of the same body, 55% personally consider it "responsible" for the problems of Russia and the proportion of Russians pessimistic about the situation of their country (45%) exceeds that of optimists for the first time since late 2013 .
"Too" poor
Despite the economic recovery, the purchasing power of the population, already very low, remains downward, hence the anger that followed the announcement of the pension reform and the switch from 18% VAT to 20%.
"Poverty literally crushes people (...) 19 million people today live below the poverty line. It's too much, "said Vladimir Putin. "We must not wait, but improve the situation now. (...) As of this year, (the Russians) must feel an improvement ".
He dwelt for a long time on the situation of the families, presented as the "moral framework" of Russia, which is struggling to emerge from the demographic crisis in which it sank after the collapse of the USSR and whose many of the inhabitants have recently begun to fall again.
"More children, less taxes," summed up the president, promising help for the birth of a third child, but also for the poorest pensioners.
To support economic activity, the government unveiled in early February its plan of more than 340 billion euros with major infrastructure projects, but economic growth is expected to slow this year.
Putin has set a target of more than 3 percent GDP growth in 2021, compared to 2.3 percent in 2018.
A few days after the arrest of the American founder of the investment fund Baring Vostok, which has created a shock in the business community, he also called the police to respect the "freedom of enterprise" . "Honest businesses should not feel constantly threatened, constantly risking criminal or administrative sanctions," he said.