This video from Firstpost includes a simultaneous English translation. The translation starts about 30 seconds into the speech, so when you hear only Russian at the start, be patient.
Here is the official English transcript from the President of Russia site at kremlin.ru, “Presidential Address to Federal Assembly”. The transcript is being posted incrementally; if you encounter “To be continued” at the end, it is still incomplete—check back later for more.
The smart people were expecting grand announcements about international affairs. Instead, here we have the President of a country laying out plans to improve the lives of the citizens of that country – family, morality, education, investment. Someone needs to tell President Putin that that is not how one gains respect from the Political Class in Europe and North America.
Putin does not appear infirm and dying of cancer as was reported in US Press a year or ago as I recall.
For those who prefer to read rather than to watch, here is the official Russian translation of the address:
Presidential Address to Federal Assembly • President of Russia (kremlin.ru)
A rather smooth translation into English, apart from an unidiomatic reference to “cannons and butter” – stated in the context of making sure not to fall into that trap.
This was most striking to me; he has repeated this sentiment in previous speeches:
“Look what they are doing to their own people. It is all about the destruction of the family, of cultural and national identity, perversion and abuse of children, including pedophilia, all of which are declared normal in their life. They are forcing the priests to bless same-sex marriages. Bless their hearts, let them do as they please. Here is what I would like to say in this regard. Adult people can do as they please. We in Russia have always seen it that way and always will: no one is going to intrude into other people’s private lives, and we are not going to do it, either”.
It is a good speech. Can we imagine any Western leader (with the exception of President Trump) making analogous statements:
"… Russia is an open country and at the same time, a distinct civilisation. There is no claim to exclusivity or superiority in this statement, but this civilisation of ours – that’s what matters. Our ancestors passed it to us and we must preserve it for our descendants and pass it on to them.
"… The free development of society means being ready to take responsibility for yourself and your loved ones, for your country. These qualities must be encouraged from a young age in the family. Of course, the system of education and our national culture are extremely important for strengthening our common values and our national identity.
“… The task is clear: in the next five years we need to train about a million specialists of working professions for the electronics industry, the robotics industry, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and the defence industry, construction, transport, nuclear and other industries that are key to ensuring the security, sovereignty and competitiveness of Russia.”
