Steve RosenbergBBC Russia Editor, Moscow
Watch: Putin tells BBC Western leaders deceived Russia
Reporters ask world leaders questions all the time.
But what’s it like putting a question to Vladimir Putin – the president who ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the leader whose country was accused this week by the head of MI6 of “the export of chaos”?
And imagine asking that question live on TV while millions of Russians are watching.
It’s a big responsibility. You don’t want to mess up.
“My question is about Russia’s future. What kind of future are you planning for your country and your people?” I ask President Putin.
“Will the future be like the present, with any public objection to the official line punishable by law? Will the hunt for enemies at home and abroad be accelerated? Will mobile internet outages become even more common? Will there be new ‘special military operations’?”
While I’m speaking, Vladimir Putin is making notes. And then replies.
He defends Russia’s repressive foreign agent law. Hundreds of Russians who are critical of the authorities have been designated “foreign agents”.
“We didn’t invent it,” Putin tells me.
“This [foreign agent] law was a
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