Russia 'ready' to solve Syrian refugee problem

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Syria cannot cope with the refugee problem on its own, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

Putin's remarks came during his 13th annual news conference, broadcast on state-owned channel Russia Today and attended by more than 1,500 journalists.

Putin said Russia also could not solve this issue alone.

"We are ready to contribute to this. We can be part of an international effort," he said.

Putin also said Turkey has been shouldering the refugee burden.

He reminded journalists that most of the terrorists in Syria had been defeated.

- 2018 presidential election

Regarding Putin's decision to run for the 2018 presidential election, he said it was not the right time to present his campaign manifesto.

"[Russia] must become a modern country with a flexible political system, its economy must be based on high technology, and labor efficiency must increase manifold," Putin said.

He added the "ultimate" goal should be increasing people's income. Putin also said Russia's economy is growing.

"This is an obvious fact. There are no exaggerations here," said Putin.

On Dec. 6, Putin announced that he would contest the March 2018 election to seek a fourth term as president.

If victorious in the upcoming election, Putin will stay in office until 2024.

- IOC decision

Concerning the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision to ban Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics, Putin said the "scandal" was exaggerated and was taken to disrupt the country's domestic politics, especially with the presidential election just around the corner.

Putin also said Russia would continue to defend its athletes in civil courts.

On Dec. 6, the IOC blocked athletes from competing under the Russian flag, although those with a clean record of drug testing will be able to compete as neutrals.

It also excluded Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko and his deputy Yuri Nagornykh from participating in future Olympics and suspended Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov as an IOC member.