All right, Alexander, let's talk about Valdae, the Valdei summit that takes place every year in Sochi

and Putin's statements during his appearance at Valdei.

He spoke in total for over four hours, statements, answering questions from the media,

a marathon session from the Russian president.

And he talked a lot about bricks. He talked a lot about Ukraine. And he also talked about

Trump's win in the U.S. elections. He actually congratulated a Trump on his election win.

So let's start things off with what Putin said about Ukraine

and how it's connected to the various statements from Trump, but more than the statements from

Trump, I believe there's a lot of analysis and plans and articles about speculation, I would actually say,

about how Trump is going to approach Putin and the conflict in Ukraine, his ideas as to how

to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Once again, speculation. No one really knows what Trump is going to do

with Ukraine and how he was going to approach Russia. But there is a lot of talk and articles and

analysis trying to understand what Trump is going to do. I would even say trying to influence

what Trump is going to do with Project

Ukraine. Anyway, let's talk about it. Putin, Valdae, Trump, Ukraine. What are your thoughts?

Well, I think the first thing to say is that this was not just vintage Putin. It was in

Fat Putin at his most optimistic, he's most cheerful and his most self-confident.

And, you know, I think, again, it's a point we've made before, but I just bears repeating,

this man's intellectual, mental and physical energy is extraordinary.

And just a few weeks ago, he was presiding over a huge conference

in Kazan. He was meeting world leaders there. He's been busy doing all kinds of things. Every day,

meeting officials. If you go to his website, you see the intensity with which he works,

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