Putin: Russia needs steady development

Russia should lead a steady development with stable conditions "without leaps," said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Monday while meeting with members of the Valdai international discussion club.

"Everyone wants this development to be powerful and more effective. But it is not effects that we must seek. We must form stable conditions for steady development without leaps," said Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The head of Russian government added that the pace of modernization was "satisfactory," citing one key development sign of citizens' moods, which were directly reflected by demography.

"It was thought recently that Russia will not be able to overcome the demographic deadlock. However, the change being observed in the past few years is absolutely positive," said Putin as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"The birth rate has risen and the death rate is going down. Life expectancy has increased by five years over the past four years," he said.

Answering whether Russian political system would be under threat if he decides to run for presidency in 2012 and win the elections, Putin said: "At his time, the U.S. President (Franklin) Roosevelt had been elected four times in a row because this did not violate American constitution."

"Neither I nor President (Dmitry) Medvedev will do anything that contradicts the present Russian law and Russia's basic law, a Constitution," he said.

The prime minister meanwhile believed that U.S. President Barack Obama's initiatives on resetting relations with Russia were sincere.

"We are paying great attention to the initiatives by the U.S. administration. I am convinced that the administration, and primarily President Obama, are being sincere," he said, adding that the United States is an important strategic and economic partner for Russia.

Founded in Sept. 2004, the Valdai club holds annual convention that gathers Russian and international political experts with Russian leaders to discuss the country's geopolitical prospective.

Source: Xinhua