Putin says he keeps situation in Russia under control while visiting Crimea
SEVASTOPOL. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has not lost control of the current situation in Russia during his trip to Crimea.
"You can see that I met with the leaders of non-governmental organizations yesterday, which is very important for Crimea, taking into consideration the ethnic aspect," Putin told journalists when asked whether the current situation in Russia is appropriate for the president to make such trips distracting him from the general agenda.
"We also [addressed] the development of such an important economic sector as tourism. Today, on the day of the 174th anniversary of the Russian Geographic Society, we are focused on reviving the interest toward Russian history, and tomorrow we will deal with issues related to security problems," he said.
Putin said he believes this is opportune and needs to be done.
"Everyone is doing their job: the government is dealing with the economy, and it's doing this on a daily and an hourly basis. We haven't left anything out of account, and therefore there is no need to worry about this," Putin said.