Putin travels to Bishkek for Commonwealth of Independent States Summit This marks the Russian president’s first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him

During a press conference following a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Heads of State Council meeting in Bishkek, Russian President Vladimir Putin answered questions from journalists. This trip marked Putin’s first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him in March 2023 on charges that he ordered the deportation of Ukrainian children. At the press conference, Putin answered questions about issues such as the Palestine-Israel conflict, Armenia’s absence from the summit, and accusations about Russia’s involvement in damaging a gas pipeline running between Finland and Estonia.

On Russians who return from abroad

What awaits the people who return to their home country? This depends on how they behaved. It’s one thing to break the law, but it’s another to violate moral and ethical norms with regard to one’s homeland. If the majority of people feel that a given person acted immorally, that person is bound to feel it

On the Palestine–Israel conflict

Israel is dealing with an unprecedented attack. Not just in terms of scale, but also in the way it was carried out, and its brutality. Israel’s response is large-scale, and also fairly brutal. It’s unacceptable that they want to take the same measures against Gaza that were taken during the Siege of Leningrad. There are over two million people in Gaza. But, on the other hand, Israel has the right to ensure its security. There should be a way out. We have a lot of former Soviet and Russian citizens living in Israel. Of course, we can’t forget about that. We have friendly relations with Israel, and traditional relations with Palestine. No one will say we took sides if someone wants our mediation.

On the transfer of weapons from Ukraine to Hamas fighters

I doubt that the Ukrainian authorities sent weapons to the Middle East, but I don’t doubt that weapons have leaked from Ukraine. I don’t have any sympathy for Ukraine’s current leadership, but it doesn’t seem like they are behind this.

On traveling abroad

I’m not ruling this out, but I’m trying not to plan anything for now. There are currently a lot of issues at home that demand close attention.

On Armenia

In regard to Armenia, it’s obvious what circumstances stopped Nikol Pashinyan from coming for the summit, but Armenia isn’t leaving the CIS. We’re in contact with Pashinyan. I’ll come to him and he’ll come to me.

On damage to the Balticconnector pipeline

Speculations about Russian tracks are only meant to cover up the West’s terrorist attack on Nord Stream. It’s not as secure as our Nord Stream [pipelines], that’s why anything could have happened there, even an earthquake.

On whether it’s worth getting used to a 100-rubles-to-a-dollar exchange rate

In terms of the budget, we need a slightly lower exchange rate. If everything was normal, there wouldn’t have been an executive order compelling certain Russian exporters to sell off their foreign currency revenue. The dollar-to-ruble exchange rate is not related to any problems in the economy — nothing like that, we’re stable. But we’ll definitely have to fix the currency regulation. And this order is a move in that direction. We’ll see how effective it’ll be.