![Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds the first major press conference of his third term in power in Moscow, on December 20, 2012 (AFP Photo / Kirill Kudryavtsev)](https://desertlocalnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/first-conference-president-major.n.jpg)
As frenzied doomsayers around the world prepare for the apocalypse on December, 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his trust in science, saying at a yearly Q&A that the earth won’t end for another 4.5 billion years, when the sun goes out.
“It will all end in 4.5 billion years, the reaction will stop and the Sun will turn into a White Dwarf… I don’t believe the world will end this year,” President Putin said during the press conference.
Putin, known for enjoying large open-format discussions, held his traditional end-of-year Q&A with more than 1,000 journalists on Thursday. In a wide-ranging, four-hour discussion, the Russian president touched on topics both serious and silly, like Syria and the so-called Mayan apocalypse.
Below are some of Putin’s most noteworthy quotes from the event: