Lying Bastard Putin condemns Kiev over 'blockade'

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President Putin: "The growth of internal agricultural production is inevitable"

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukraine's government is "cutting off" defiant rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine through an economic blockade.

He was addressing a huge Russian audience in a live televised phone-in.

He also insisted "there are no Russian troops in Ukraine". Moscow denies Western charges that it is directly arming and reinforcing the rebels.

Later he said those who had ordered the murder of Boris Nemtsov - one of his leading critics - might never be found.

Mr Nemtsov, a prominent opposition politician, was shot dead on 27 February near the Kremlin.

Five suspects, all of them Chechens, are in custody. Mr Putin condemned the murder as "disgraceful".

Ukraine 'blockade'

It was Mr Putin's 13th marathon annual phone-in with the Russian public, and lasted nearly four hours.

Mr Putin denied reports that Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko had offered to let Russia have the rebel-held areas in the Donbas region.

The rebels reject Kiev's rule and are getting humanitarian aid from Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea region last year.

"There are many problems there and we do not see the current Kiev authorities wanting to restore the social sphere, or the economy of Donbas," Mr Putin said.

"We see a total blockade of Donbas. One can say that the current Ukrainian authorities are cutting off Donbas by their own hand. That is the problem and tragedy."

It was a rare occasion for Mr Putin to speak to a huge audience of Russians directly

Russian journalists also explored some key issues with Mr Putin