Russian President Vladimir Putin improvised a time-capsule message for future generations during his year-end press conference on Friday.

Asked what he would write for schoolchildren studying the history of the present day, Putin said such a message would require time and careful thought, adding that people inevitably think about the future of their children, grandchildren, and country. He then agreed to try, saying he needed to “put his ducks in a row,” before jokingly adopting a teacher’s tone and telling the audience to “pick up a pen and write.” 

“We, who lived in Russia in the endless flow of time, in the 20th and 21st centuries, gratefully accepted everything our ancestors had accomplished. We lived like everyone else, everywhere, and always – with our current concerns. But we didn’t stand still. We moved forward. We worked, fought, and struggled. And we did our utmost to solve the problems our time posed. We thought about the future and about you. And if you hold our message in your hands today, it means you still feel part of our shared, endless flow of time. It means that you, too, feel and understand the connection between the times. This is very important because it means that when we worked, fought, and thought about you, we didn't live in vain and achieved much. We wish you happiness and good fortune. And we hope that your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will be as proud of you as we are of our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers.”

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