Europe

Putin says he won’t pursue fines or prosecute unvaccinated people in Russia.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Thursday that he had no plans to impose fines or criminally prosecute people hesitant to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, even though Russia has one of the lowest vaccination levels in Europe.

About 56 percent of the country’s population is inoculated against the virus, and the government has not introduced vaccine mandates. Mr. Putin said at his year-end news conference that such mandates would be counterproductive.

Mr. Putin said Russians “are inventive people” and therefore “whenever you start to push, they find ways to circumvent that.”

“We need to relate to people with respect, despite their positions,” he said, “and to patiently explain” the need to inoculate.

Mr. Putin said the pandemic has taken a heavy toll. The average life expectancy in the country has diminished for the first time in years dropping from 71.5 to 70.1 years, he said.

Mr. Putin’s marathon year-end news conferences are a longtime tradition, meant to demonstrate his stamina and authority as he answers questions for hours on end. They have also been a stage for policy pronouncements.

He focused on domestic issues like the economy and the coronavirus in the early minutes of the news conference, which was being closely watched because of rising military tensions in Eastern Europe.

He also spoke in stark terms of those military tensions, saying that there was talk of “war, war, war,” but that Moscow was not to blame because it was defending historically Russian territories.

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