Putin Says He's Ready To Pardon Khodorkovsky

Radio Free Europe, December 19, 2013

President Vladimir Putin Putin gesticulates during his annual marathon
news conference in Moscow on December 19.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he plans to pardon jailed former oligarch and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Following a lengthy news conference on December 19, Putin told reporters that Khodorkovsky "has spent more than 10 years in prison -- it's a serious amount of time -- and I think it is necessary to take this decision."

Putin said during the news conference that there would be no third case brought against Khodorkovsky's former company Yukos but did not mention any pardon for Khodorkovsky or his jailed partner Platon Lebedev.

Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003 and subsequently convicted of embezzlement, tax evasion, and fraud.

He still has eight months left to serve of a jail sentence or more than 10 years.

During his marathon presser, Putin also offered his thoughts on Ukraine, the Winter Olympics, a prison amnesty, Iran's nuclear program, and Edward Snowden, among other issues, to more than 1,000 Russian and foreign journalists.

Putin, who offered Ukraine $15 billion in credits and slashed one-third off the price Ukraine pays for vital Russian gas supplies earlier this week, said the deals were reached "taking the Ukrainian people's interests into account" and had nothing to do with Ukraine's moves toward an Association Agreement with the EU.

"You know, I'll be completely serious and free of any irony -- we often exploit the term of  'brotherly country' or 'brotherly nation,'" he said. "Today, we see that Ukraine is in a complicated economic, political, and social situation. This situation has emerged due to a number of circumstances and reasons, but nevertheless it is objective. If we are serious calling [Ukraine] our brotherly country, then we ought to behave as close relatives and support the Ukrainian people in this complex situation. I assure you that this is the absolutely main reason why we made this decision."

He said Russia had not asked for anything in return.

Putin also commented on reports of the deployment of Iskander short-range missiles in Russia's westernmost Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.

"A new and very important segment of American strategic weapons is being installed on the periphery of Europe -- a missile-defense system," he said. "We have said many times that this system constitutes a threat to our nuclear capacity, and we will be compelled to react to it one way or the other. I believe even my predecessor used to say that one of the ways of our reaction would be the deployment of the Iskander [missile] system in the Kaliningrad Region. There is nothing new in this."

Putin urged calm over the situation, though, saying  that the Kremlin has not yet decided whether to deploy the nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad.

Putin also said that fugitive former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, is embarked on a "noble cause" but that his path looks "very challenging."

Putin defended the work of the American National Security Agency (NSA), however, saying it was necessary in today's world.

"As much as our American friends are being scolded now, initially -- and I believe it continues to be so today -- all of this [intelligence] work is being done primarily to fight terrorism," he said.

Putin added, however, that the U.S. government must "limit the appetite" of the agency with a clear set of ground rules.

Speaking of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Putin vowed to ensure equal conditions for all athletes at the February games.

A law signed earlier this year in Russia bans the distribution of so-called "propaganda" to minors about nontraditional sexual relationships.

The law has raised wide concern about whether gay athletes and spectators would face discrimination at the Olympics.

On Iran, Putin praised the role of the United States in forging an interim deal to ease concerns about its suspect nuclear program, but said any talk of further tightening sanctions would be a "counterproductive decision."

He also  expressed hope that the case of the 30 Greenpeace activists arrested over a protest in September at an Arctic oil platform will serve as a "lesson for anyone who wants to do the same."

With reporting by ITAR-TASS and Interfax

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