president of the united states, you do partial justice according to the constitution and law so help you god? >> with senator sworn in as jurors, arguments and the impeachment trial of former president donald trump are said to begin tuesday, february 9 on whether the former president should be convicted on incitement of insurrection. watch the senate impeachment trial live on tuesday, february 9 at 1:00 p.m. eastern on suisse -- on c-span2, c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app, . >> next, russian president vladimir putin speaks at a virtual summit of the world economic forum. he has not addressed them in a decade and spoke about the economic relations. russia's future relationship with europe and covid-19. this is 45 minutes.

president putin: russia is an important global power. -- >> russia is an important global power. at this moment in history the world has a unique and short window of opportunity to move from an age of confrontation to an age of confirmation. the ability to hear a new voice, the voice of the president russia federation is essential. even, and especially in times characterized by differences, disputes, constructive on honest dialogue to address our common challenges is better than isolation. yesterday your foreign exchange with president biden, and the agreement to send the new staff for the arms treaty, i think is a very promising sign.

covid-19, which has shown our global interconnect ability. and like any country, russia will also be affected, and economic developments and prospects for international corporations is of interest to all of us. mr. president we are keen to hear from your perspective and from russia, how you see the situation development in the 21st century, and what should be done to ensure that people everywhere find peace and prosperity. mr. president, the world is waiting for you.

president putin: i have done this many times assisting meetings. but we met each other back in 1992. when i worked there i visited this. i would like to thank you for this opportunity today for me to make my statement. first of all, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome all world economic participants. i would like to start with the following. in spite of the pandemic it is gratifying to see -- it has

provided an opportunity for discussion and relations for forecast. it makes up for the lack of direct communication between businesses in the world community that has generated the past month. all of this is important now when we are facing so many complex issues. this is from the 21st century. this is for the preferred changes that are taking place in much of the world. it isn't hard to ignore the transportation -- transformations in the global economy and the technology.

the coronavirus pandemic, which you mentioned, has become a major problem for mankind and has accelerated structural changes. the conditions for which we already have in place. and we had several reasons to believe it would go even further. it emerged in almost every area. naturally there are almost no direct orders, but i do respect the opinion in the early 1930's of the last century. i do agree with such an opinion.

there are systemic challenges and potential threats. we are written -- we are witnessing economic development so that certification is increasing in the countries. it has caused public opinions. right and left wing radicalism and it is on the rise. it is escalating in becoming more violent. all of this is impacting relations making them less predictable. institutions are weakening.

the global security system is degrading. we have agreed with extending the agreement. it is the correct step. but the contradictions are multiplying. in the 20th century, the family has a catastrophic cost. nowadays conflict is not possible. i hope it is not possible in principle. i would like to reiterate it would develop unpredictably and uncontrollably. we will sit on our hands doing nothing to avoid it. there is a possibility we may experience financial collapse that might result in a -- the

warring parties will attempt to tackle the escalated tensions. this fight would mean the destruction of traditional worries. we cherish this in russia's family. i would like to know that there has always -- already been consequences. our other responsibility today is to avoid such a future that resembles a -- we need to ensure developments following a different path. . in this regard i would like to elaborate on the key challenges

that, in my opinion, are facing the challenges of today. the first one of them is the social and economic nature. if we look at the statistics of 2020 the dash is successful for the global economy starting from 1980. the global gdp and purchasing power and authority per capita has doubled. globalization and domestic growth have resulted in a boost in developing countries. more than one billion people have been lifted out of poverty. for instance, if we take an

income level of 5.5 euro dollars been lifted out of poverty, -- -- 5.5 euro dollars [indiscernible] from china and has produced 1.1 billion in 1990 to 300 million in recent years. it's a success for china. in russia, this number has gone from 64 million people in 1999 to 5 million people as of now. and we think we are moving in the right direction. it is the most important area. the main question that gives us the most insight into current problems is, what was the nature of the global growth? who benefited the most? sadly, i don't think anyone

gained much benefits. using the growing demands for the traditional and new products. this vetting in the global economy resulted not only in new costs and earnings, but also social costs, including significant loss in situations. also the situations in developing countries. paradoxically, the problems of certification here in developed countries have proven to be even more -- according to the world bank estimates there were 3.6 million people living on less than 5.5 euro dollars a day in the u.s.

in 2016 this figure rose up to 5.6. during the same period, globalization resulted in a substantial increase profits of companies. primarily in -- primarily american and european. people in european countries tendencies are the same light in america. but again, who gets this revenue? the companies. people who represent 1% of the population. what happens with those people? for the last 30 years, the income of more than half of all citizens in a number of developing countries have not

increased, with the cut of education and health -- with the cost of education and health having tripled. that is a million of people, even in rich countries have ceased to seize the prospect of their income. and to collect quality education for their children. there is a less proportion of people -- estimates. in 2019, 20 1% of people in the world, or 206 7 million -- 206 7 million people were studying. and this is an interesting figure. even among those who were, 30% are less than 3.2 euros dollars

a day. having balances having direct results of the policy that have been conducted since the 1980's of the last century. it is often based on this so-called "washington consensus," that hasn't proven -- unwritten rules thank you private debt and unwritten rules for characterizations. the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated problems. last year, declaring the global economy of the worst since the second world war. the market losses by july were equivalent to almost 500 million jobs. yes, half of them had been

recovered by the end of the year, but still almost 250 million jobs were lost. it is a very large and worrying figure. in the past nine months of the last year alone, global income losses suffered $3.5 trillion. this figure is still rising, which means social tensions are on the rise as well. at the same time, recovery is not going to be the test. if it were 30 years ago, the problem could have been solved through communicative microeconomic policies. that's what we have done and they are still doing it. the result is tactically exhausted.

that is according to the imf estimate. in foreign economies it has exceeded 300% of the national gdp. at the same time, all developed countries now have 0% interest rates and the main developing countries historically have minimal ones, all of this theoretically means stimulating the economy by providing minimal credit. quantitative easing shall increase and inflate the financial effort and bubble. this includes real and virtual

economy, quite often the officials of the economic sector in many countries keep telling me this. i think that a business representative today will tell me the same. this is fought with serious and unpredictable -- they have not yet laid the foundation for what is known as the fourth industrial revolution. which is based on the widespread use of artificial intelligence and robotics solutions. with the coronavirus pandemic greatly accelerating such things. however, this process is also bringing about new structural changes in the labor market.

many people are risking their jobs. this all from the so-called middle-class, which continues the decorum of any modern society. let me refer to the social and political challenge, including economic problems and inequality throughout the society. they pay their way for -- in this pressure shows the credit institutions that are smoothing over and mitigating such incidents. systemic social economic socioeconomic problems are linked to public discontent and

requires special sessions. this problem should be resolved. we can just not deal with it. but in this case, the public discontent will increase because we will be divided because the reasons of public skin content -- public discontent has to do with problems that affect everybody. independently of what political ideas they stick to. real problems lead to discontent, more than technology, first of all science has been playing a troll in the -- has been playing a significant role in society.

we are not talking about what happened in the united states, we are talking about economic giants only in certain areas. they are competing. the audience includes millions of viewers which are using these ecosystems and spend a lot of time there. the companies are not as efficient as they could be. here's the question, how does this monopoly correlate with the public interest? where is the distinction between successful global business -- and big data consolidation? on the one hand, how do the efforts to rule society and then self-serving widths democratic

institutions encroaching on our risk -- and we have seen all of this recently in the united states. everybody asks, well what am i talking about? i am sure the majority of people share this view. finally, the third challenge, the clear threats to which we can face and indicate. they choose to search for internal enemies, they will emerge as external enemies. one in which they can redirect

the temper. we can see already, we make tech stocks become more aggressive. they're easy to control. the use of trade barriers, restrictions and the financial, technological, and information dramatically increasing the risks which is very dangerous. in any pretext, however the new -- you start this angle of differences and challenges, it

is essential that we keep looking positively into the future and remain committed to the agenda. all of us should develop common approaches, narrow down discrepancies as much as possible. i would like to reiterate my message, the fundamental reason is in many cases social and economic problems. that is why the key issue today is this, not only to restore national economies affected by

the pandemic, but ensure that the restoration is sustainable in the long term and includes structure to enable them to overcome limitations of economic policies for the development of the economy. we will debate with state budgets and central banks playing the key role. in developing countries, increasing the role of the government here at the social level, have invariably been calling for creating conditions -- it is correct and it is absolutely clear that the world

cannot follow the path of building an economy that only works for a few people or the golden billionaires. today it is important to move from general statements to actions. to put in real efforts and resources into reducing social inequality step-by-step. my immigration policy was designed to include the creation of new opportunities for everybody, conditions for people to develop and recognize their potential. they are priorities, how i can see them as priorities.

i will not say it is nothing new, but expressing the priority position of russia, that is what i am doing. infrastructure, transport, economic globally, with a job that provided a standard of living.

it should enable us to keep, develop, and build a career. but people are not confident that they will receive adequate medical care or that they will receive any. regardless of any income, children should have opportunities to superior education. this is the only way to guarantee the most effective global economy, -- and those countries that can make progress in these four areas, the most important areas, only those

countries that can make progress here will ensure sustainable development. it is important to underline what my country is ensuring. safeguarding the people on improving the world and the well-being and health of people. we will ensure digital transfer of information as a basis.

in the coming years, we will concentrate the efforts of the garman business on this fact and build a stimulating foreign policy. on development goals, we will reopen to international corporations on the global economic agenda or if it will have an impact on global affairs. the overcoming of problems will lead to stronger trust. which is essentially rare today.

we will attempt to centralize -- until it is over. such a monopoly will inherently call for cultural -- the reality is that there are truly a different set of rules with their different models. it is extremely important to create mechanisms to protect day to day interests. the natural competition is between poles of development, so this we have to strengthen and develop the union for which that special responsibility for ensuring global stability in the

world of government trade is there. i keep telling you about that, this institution during a different era facing today's challenges is not able to do that objectively. we shall support them. they have unique experience when it comes to using potential that has not been implemented. we should use it.

we should use a new form of interaction when it comes to multiple effort. certainly it can be understood in multiple ways. it can make universal actions look legitimate or others not at all, or it can be a way for states to deal with specific problems for the common good. it will create information including the -- understand that we have here a lot of vast opportunities for mutual work. friends, ladies and gentlemen, this opens wide possibilities for collaboration. multi-faceted approaches do work.

we know from practice that they work. as you may be aware, within the framework of, for example, the astana format, russia, iran and turkey are doing much to stabilise the situation in syria and are now helping establish a political dialogue in that country, of course, alongside other countries. we are doing this together. and, importantly, not without success. for example, russia has undertaken energetic mediation efforts to stop the armed conflict in nagorno-karabakh, in which peoples and states that are close to us azerbaijan and armenia are involved. we strived to follow the key agreements reached by the osce minsk group, in particular between its co-chairs russia, the united states and france. this is also a very good example of cooperation. as you may be aware, a trilateral statement by russia, azerbaijan and armenia was signed in november. importantly, by and large, it is being steadily implemented.

the bloodshed was stopped. this is the most important thing. we managed to stop the bloodshed, achieve a complete ceasefire and start the stabilisation process. now the international community and, undoubtedly, the countries involved in crisis resolution are faced with the task of helping the affected areas overcome humanitarian challenges related to returning refugees, rebuilding destroyed infrastructure, protecting and restoring historical, religious and cultural landmarks. and there restoration. or, another example. i will note the role of russia, saudi arabia, the united states and a number of other countries in stabilising the global energy market. this format has become a productive example of interaction between the states with different, sometimes even diametrically opposite assessments of global processes, and with their own outlooks on the world.

at the same time there are certainly problems that concern every state without exception. one example is cooperation in studying and countering the coronavirus infection. recently. as you know, several strains of this dangerous virus have emerged. the international community must create conditions for cooperation between scientists and other specialists to understand how and why coronavirus mutations occur, as well as the difference between the various strains. of course, we need to coordinate the efforts of the entire world, as the un secretary-general suggests and as we urged recently at the g20 summit. distribute the much needed covid-19 vaccine. help should be provided to states when needed. including african states.

to increase the number of testing and vaccinations. we see that mass vaccination is accessible today, primarily to people in the developed countries. at the same time, there are hundreds of millions of people in the world are deprived even of the hope for this protection. and this inequality could create a common threat because this is well known and has been said many times that it will drag out the epidemic and uncontrolled epicenters will remain. the epidemic has no borders. that is why we need to learn the lessons from the current situation. a global monitoring of emergency -- emergent diseases. more important.

another important area that requires coordination, in fact, the coordination of the efforts of the entire international community, is to preserve the climate and nature of our planet. it is nothing new here. only together can we achieve progress in resolving such critical problems as global warming, the reduction of forestlands, the loss of biodiversity, the increase in waste, the pollution of the ocean with plastic and so on, and find an optimal balance between economic development and the preservation of the environment for the current and future generations. dear friends, we all know that competition and rivalry between countries in world history never stopped, do not stop and will never stop. differences and a clash of interests are also natural for such a complicated body as human civilisation.

however, in critical times this did not prevent it from pooling its efforts on the contrary, it united in the most important destinies of humankind. believe this is the period we are going through today. it is very important to honestly assess the situation, to concentrate on real rather than artificial global problems, on removing the imbalances that are critical for the entire international community. i would like to stop here. i would like to thank for your patience and your attention. thank you.

>> the issues raised suddenly certainly, are part of our discussions here during the davos week. we complement the speeches also by task forces which address some of the issues you mentioned, like not leaving the developing world behind, taking care of, let's say, creating the skills for tomorrow, and so on. so, mr. president, we prepare for the discussion afterwards, but i have one very short question. how do you see -- it is a question which we discussed when i visited you in st petersburg 14 months ago. how do you see the future of european-russian relations? just a short answer. mr. putin: you know there are

we have fundamental issue. and we have common culture. many important political figures in europe and the recent past mentioned the need to keep developing the relations between europe and russia. stressing the fact that russia is part of europe. geographically and what is most important -- culturally -- from the cultural point of view. it is just one civilization in reality. french leaders, russian -- need to create a common space from

lisbon to the urals. why just to the urals? to vladivostok. i heard the position of the former distinguished political figure chancellor helmut kohl who used to say that if the european culture would like to preserve itself and maintain its role as one of the cultural centers in the world, again taking into account all the problems of world civilization and development, so europe and russia should be together. we share the same position and the same opinion. in the situation. this situation is no doubt far from being normal. we have to come back to the

positive agenda. this is the common interest of russian and european countries, no doubt about it. the pandemic has played a negative role. the opinion is one of our main trade partners. so we have to come back to positive trends. we have to increase our interaction. russia and europe. from the economic point of view, are natural partners. and from the point of view for development, technological development, development from the state point of view, russia is showing european culture, but

the territory of russia is a bit bigger than the entire europe. we have a huge human resources -- but it could be used beneficially for russia. we should approach to our dialogue. we should get past our past phobias. we shall not use -- previous processes to problems which we inherited from the previous centuries. we shall look into the future. look to the future. if we are able to get past these phobias or problems, then we

will create a positive phase in our relations. we would like to get this and to achieve this. it should not be a unilateral approach. it should be a common approach. >> thank you. mr. president. this completes the public portion of our session. also joining the following dialogue with your, mr. president, we begin shortly. please connect -- thank you very much, mr. president. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu also spoke about his government's response to covid-19 and working with leaders on the global inoculation effort.