ON THE ECONOMY

"(Economic) growth is happening thanks to certain sectors of the economy - machine building, chemicals, manufacturing and agriculture."

"We saw some economic growth in November ... This year we will probably have minus 0.5-0.6 percent (economic growth)."

ON DONALD TRUMP AND THE MILITARY

"In the course of his election campaign he (Trump) spoke about the necessity of strengthening the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and strengthening the armed forces. There's nothing unusual here. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised by the words of certain other official representatives of the current administration who have for some reason set about proving that the armed forces of the United States are the most powerful in the world. No-one disputed that."

"If anyone is unleashing an arms race it's not us ... We will never spend resources on an arms race that we can't afford."

ON DOPING

"In this area transparency is absolutely essential ... Undoubtedly there is a certain political element in all these issues. Sport should be cleansed, along with culture, of any sort of politics. Sport and culture are things that should unite people and not divide them."

ON UKRAINE AND CRIMEA

"I am sure that sooner or later there will be a normalisation of relations with Ukraine, and it (a bridge between Russian and Crimea) will be very beneficial to the development of Russia-Ukraine relations and future commercial and humanitarian links."

ON ALEPPO

"The president of Turkey and the leaders of Iran (also) played a huge role in this (managing the situation around Aleppo). I don't know if this will sound immodest, but without our participation it would have been impossible."