President Vladimir Putin is likely to use his annual news conference on Thursday to try to reassure Russians as slumping oil prices threaten his efforts to pull the economy out of recession. Putin is facing one of the toughest challenges of his almost 16-year-rule as oil trades close to levels last seen during the global financial crisis, prolonging the downturn and stoking inflation while incomes fall by the most since he came to power. “Putin will say that everything is under control and you just need to wait some time,” said Boris Makarkin, deputy director of the independent Center for Political Technologies in Moscow. “The problem is that Russia is facing long-term stagnation and there is a growing realization among people that the crisis is more serious than they thought and will last longer.” Putin enters the marathon news […]