By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – “We need to address large-scale social, economic and technological tasks facing the country more quickly and, without delay. Our society is clearly calling for change. People want development,” President Vladimir Putin said in his wide-ranging address on January 15 to the Federal Assembly at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, a few metres away from the Kremlin.
Putin emphasised that this year Russia will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War – World War 2. He said: “For Russia, May 9 is the greatest and sacred holiday. We are proud of the generation of victors and honour their feat, and our memory is not only a tribute to our heroic past, but it also serves our future, inspires us and strengthens our unity.”