Meeting with leaders of parliamentary groups

Taking part in the meeting were United Russia faction leader Vladimir Vasilyev Vasilyev VladimirHead of the United Russia faction in the State Duma , Communist Party faction leader Gennady Zyuganov Zyuganov GennadyChairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Communist Party State Duma faction leader , A Just Russia faction leader Sergei Mironov Mironov SergeiHead of A Just Russia - For the Truth political party faction in the State Duma , New People faction leader Alexei Nechayev Nechayev AlexeiHead of the New People party faction in the State Duma , Liberal Democratic Party faction leader Leonid Slutsky Slutsky Leonidhead of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia faction in the State Duma , State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin Volodin VyacheslavChairman of the State Duma , and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Kiriyenko Kiriyenko SergeiFirst Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office .

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

The State Duma opened its autumn session and held its first meeting on Tuesday.

Congratulations to you and all State Duma deputies. Also, congratulations on the recent election. All the parliamentary parties have reaffirmed their high status and demonstrated that they have the trust of their voters. This is crucial, as it ensures our political stability, which is of paramount importance in today's world.

Therefore, and I should have opened with this, thank you to all Russian voters who came to polling stations even in the regions where it was challenging and dangerous. People showed up and reaffirmed that the Russian political system is stable.

We know of too many cases where a country living in conditions similar to ours fails to uphold its constitutional order and political stability. We have managed to maintain that, and it is very important.

There will be many discussion points during the upcoming session, and I would like to cover them with you today. There are many priorities to address. One priority that we constantly return to is, of course, macroeconomic stability. It is a factor determining the other matters to which you continuously attach prime significance: fulfilling the state's commitments to our citizens, our social commitments. This includes large families, seniors and pensioners, as well as matters concerning enhancing and reinforcing Russia's defence capability and supporting our military personnel and their family members.

I know that war veterans, in particular, are joining your ranks. I am confident that they will make a positive contribution to the political parties both locally and centrally, in the State Duma and the federal government bodies. I have repeatedly said and I know that you support this approach, that we must seek out and promote people who have no fear when it comes to serving the Motherland and who are willing to risk their health and lives. Such people must be promoted to leading posts. They will be our successors. We should think about that. Thank you for nominating these people.

This is what I would like to say in the beginning. I think we can cover everything in an open discussion, especially since I will meet with each of you individually later, as we agreed with Mr Volodin.

To be continued.