MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a Q&A session on Thursday, taking questions from 70 people around the country.
As reported by Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency, the questions ran the gamut from the conflict in Ukraine to Daesh to the country's economy.
Asked about the delivery of missiles to Iran, Putin said that the S-300 missiles being exchanged for oil with Iran would not threaten Israel's security.
The missile systems are designed to defend against air attacks and are said to be one of the world's most efficient anti-aircraft systems.
On the conflict in Ukraine, Putin blamed the Ukrainian government for violating the cease-fire.
The president also complained that the Ukrainian government has halted services to people in eastern Ukraine.
In fact, the Ukrainian government has ceased providing public services to the regions occupied by pro-Russian separatists.
He emphasized that the Minsk agreement is the only way to solve the crisis.
A cease-fire was signed between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in Belarus' capital Minsk on Feb. 12.
Putin also said the West should respect Russian interests.
He said that the U.S. wanted just slaves, not allies and Russia would not accept that role.
But Putin insisted that Russia was ready to normalize the relations with Western countries.
Asked about Daesh, Putin said it first emerged in Iraq then spread.
He said that Daesh was not a threat for Russia directly.
"We are concerned about Russian nationals fighting there. We are taking necessary steps," he added.
The terrorist organization of Daesh controls swathes of regions in Iraq and Syria, where it has declared a so-called caliphate after taking the control of Iraq’s second-largest city in June 2014.
On the Russian economy, Putin said that it would recover from recession in two years, or possibly even faster. He explained that Russia has sufficient resources, and has taken the right measures for economic recovery.
But he said that it was unlikely that sanctions would be lifted, because the imposition of sanctions was a political issue.
Putin said Russia would continue to modernize its military technology through 2020.
We will have renovated 70 percent of our military technology, he said.
Russia would commit no aggressions, Putin said, but the country would strengthen its defenses.
