Putin Chats Tigers, Neon, Planes In Meeting With Top Officials

Vladimir Putin discussed cancer care, tigers and even the circus in a meeting with his ministers in which the invasion of Ukraine did not come up once.

The Russian president started a video conference on Monday saying that aviation would be the main topic.

But before that was reached he asked Trade Minister Denis Manturov about neon, which is crucial in the electronics industry, and was told that by next year Russia could supply a quarter of the world's need for the element.

Putin then quizzed Health Minister Mikhail Murashko about cancer care provision and was told more oncologists would be trained and appointed in a government push that included a rise in treatment centers for the disease.

The Russian leader then asked Alexander Kozlov, Russia's minister of natural resources and ecology, about programs to protect endangered animals.

He was given the news that the population of the Amur tiger, which is threatened by hunting and deforestation in Siberia, was on the rise.

Although the figure will not be confirmed until the fall, the meeting was told that the number of the tigers had increased from 540 in 2015 to at least more than 600 now.

After being informed by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova about summer tours by theater groups and the Russian State Circus, Putin then turned to the aircraft and transportation sector which he said was "under attack" due to Western imposed sanctions.

Without mentioning the war in Ukraine, Putin said Western partners were "refusing to work with us" which had put "overt political pressure on commercial companies," according to a transcript published on the Kremlin website.

Soon after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, analysts said that the Russian aviation industry was on the verge of collapse due to the EU and U.S. closing their airspace to Russian-owned aircraft.

In May, Alexei Butrimov, the CEO of Moscow-based business aircraft company BJet, said the entire business aviation sector in Russia is under the threat of "actual destruction."

But Putin talked up the Russian aviation industry, saying that since the end of March the government had compensated airlines to the tune of 100 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) for losses on domestic air tickets.

He said that a push to increase domestic travel means "the aviation industry must be ready for a rapid restoration of the volume of services," before calling on Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev to provide an update.

The response was not recorded in the Kremlin transcript.

The tone of Putin's comments was far removed from an address he gave at a Moscow forum last week, in which he warned that "a new stage in world history" is coming as he condemned "the model of total domination" by the West.