Putin paints a rosy picture of Russia's future

MOSCOW - President Vladimir V. Putin delivered his state of the nation address Wednesday, and he made conditions in his country sound enviable - a view immediately rejected by his critics.

"We will implement everything we planned," Putin said, describing a Russia committed to democracy, where corruption would be fought, more jobs would be created, affordable housing would be built and pay would be increased.

"He has repeated all the unfulfilled promises he has made in the course of his 13 years in power," Vladimir Ryzhkov, an opposition politician, wrote in his blog, pointing out that new points included promises to improve spirituality and collegiality. "It's social populism."

Putin appeared to anticipate the criticism, hinting that it was time to follow through on previous promises. "If it needs to be done," he said, "we must do it."

Putin's audience - the parliament, cabinet members, and other high-level officials, including the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, gathered in an ornate Kremlin hall - applauded regularly.

He spoke for nearly an hour and a half, standing at a white lectern, sufficient time for Putin watchers to say that he must be recovering from his widely rumored and intensely denied back pain.

The president was applauded for saying Russia should be an influential country; for promising more sports programs for children and plans to build housing so people can move out of shabby apartments; and for stating a commitment to make Russia's economy oriented toward new technology instead of dependent on natural resources such as oil. The last is a favorite theme of Prime Minister Dmitry A. Medvedev, who was president for four years before Putin returned to the office in May.

As he enumerated his promises, Putin even created a word new to the Russian ear. "We need a whole set of measures to de-offshoreize the economy," he said, explaining that officials would be prohibited from having foreign bank accounts and that Russia would be made more attractive to investors.

He struck another note familiar in recent months: resentment of foreigners perceived as telling Russia what to do, saying that anyone who accepted foreign money could not be a politician.

"Russian democracy will not be forced on us from abroad," he said.