MOSCOW (Reuters) -Here are some highlights from Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference and phone-in held in Moscow on Thursday:
ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE
"There will be peace when we achieve our goals. Let's return to these goals: they have not changed. I'll remind you of what we talked about then: the denazification of Ukraine, its demilitarization, its neutral status."
"As for demilitarization, if they don't want to come to an agreement, then we are forced to take other measures, including military ones. Or we will agree on certain terms. By the way we agreed on these in talks in Istanbul. But then these agreements were scrapped. But we agreed on this. There are other possibilities - either reach an agreement or resolve it by force. This is what we will strive for."
"Almost along the entire front line, our armed forces, let's put it modestly, are improving their position. Almost everyone is in an active stage of action. Our troops' situation is improving throughout."
ON POSSIBILITY OF SECOND MILITARY DRAFT
"The flow of men ready to defend our homeland with arms in hand is not decreasing. Together with volunteers, there should be around half a million people. There is no need for mobilisation as of today."
ON RELATIONS WITH THE WEST
"The unbridled desire to creep towards our borders, taking Ukraine into NATO, all this led to this tragedy. Plus the bloody events in Donbass for eight years - all this led to the tragedy that we are now experiencing. They forced us into these actions...
"What the United States conceived and organized, Europe stands and silently watches, or plays and sings along with them there. Well how can we build relations with them?"
"When internal changes happen (in the United States), when they start respecting other people, other countries, when they start looking for compromise instead of trying to resolve their issues with sanctions and military intervention, then the fundamental conditions will be in place to restore fully-fledged relations. So far, such conditions are not in place, but we are ready for that."
"As for the 'rules-based order', there are in fact no such rules. They change every day in line with politics and the short-term interests of those who talk about (such an order)."
ON DETAINED AMERICAN REPORTER EVAN GERSHKOVICH
"As for the possible extradition of these citizens (Gershkovich and Paul Whelan) to their homeland... You say, why don't they return to their homeland? Then shouldn't they not commit crimes on the territory of the Russian Federation? But this is all rhetoric. It's not that we would refuse to return them. We didn't refuse. We want to reach an agreement, and these agreements must be mutually acceptable and suit both parties. We have contacts with our American partners on this matter, and dialogue is ongoing on this matter. It is not simple, I will not go into details now... I hope we find a solution. But, I repeat, the American side must hear us and make an appropriate decision, one that suits the Russian side."
ON OLYMPICS
"Everything that the international bureaucrats are doing to Russian sports goes against Pierre de Coubertin's idea 'O Sport, you are Peace!'"
ON CAPITAL CONTROLS
"The government and central bank do not see what is happening with the volumes of funds our exporters are making from exports. We... have a legitimate desire to see how roubles are accumulated, how they move around, where they go and in what volumes."
ON RUSSIAN HOSPITAL IN GAZA
"When I visited the United Arab Emirates I found out they have set up a field hospital there in Gaza, near the Rafah checkpoint... and we talked about the possibility of Russia setting up a hospital in the same location, at a stadium, but that would of course require approval from both Egypt and Israel. I have spoken to the Egyptian president, he supports this idea. I have spoken to (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, they have discussed this between various agencies, and the Israeli side does not support this. They believe setting up a Russian hospital in Gaza would be unsafe, but this does not mean we will cease those efforts."
ON RELATIONS WITH CHINA
"We know and I will simply repeat this, I must repeat this, the level of our ties with China is at an all-time high."
ON RELATIONS WITH FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON
"We had a pretty good, amicable working relationship... We are ready to continue to interact with France, but at some point the French president halted relations with us.
"I didn't stop, he did. If there is interest, please, we are ready. If there is no interest, we'll make do... We do not shy away from these contacts, but if European countries, the president of France in particular, do not want to communicate with us, well... that settles it. We have things to do."
ON THE ECONOMY
"The most important indicator is economic growth. GDP growth by the end of the year is expected at 3.5% - this is a good indicator, it means we have recovered from last year's fall... and we have made a relatively seriously step forward."
"Unfortunately, inflation has increased. By the end of the year it is expected at 7.5%, maybe a little more at 8%, but the central bank and government are taking necessary measures."