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Life’s trials and tribulations reason to shed vanity, focus on crucial matters, says Putin

The residents of the Kamchatka Peninsula were the first audience in Russia to hear the president's message minutes before midnight

© Mikhail Klimentyev/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, December 31. /TASS/. The trials of life are unavoidable, but they urge one and all to turn an attentive ear to the voice of conscience, to brush off vanity and to focus on the matters of the greatest importance, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his customary New Year address to the nation. The residents of the Kamchatka Peninsula were the first audience in Russia to hear his message minutes before midnight.

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"True, the formidable novel coronavirus has changed and turned upside down the customary mode of life, work and studies, it forced a revision of and amendments to many plans. In our world, the trials of life are unavoidable. They urge us to turn an attentive ear to the voice of conscience, to brush off vanity and to focus on the matters of the greatest importance," Putin said.

He added that he was referring to "the gift of human life, the family, our mothers and fathers, our grandpas and grandmas, our children - both little kids and grown-ups - our friends and colleagues, disinterested assistance and the common energy of acts of kindness - large-scale deeds of national importance and small ones, too, within each neighborhood, street and house, but nevertheless no less significant."

"Trials and misfortunes will certainly vanish. As they always do. But there will remain with us everything that makes us noble and strong: love, mutual understanding, trust and support," Putin said.

"I would like to wish that all hardships of the outgoing year sink into oblivion, while all the very best that we have gained, and the potential each person has displayed remains with us forever," he added.

Putin said that "today it is very important to have faith in oneself, not to retreat in the face of hardships, and to take care of our unity, which is the basis for our successes in the future."

"I am certain that together we shall overcome everything, restore and establish normal life, and push ahead with renewed energy to handle the tasks facing Russia in the coming third decade of the 21st century," he concluded.

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