Russian president Vladimir Putin attended a meeting with representatives of the public in Crimea on Monday to mark the 5th anniversary of the Black Sea Peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine.

At the event, Putin took questions from participants, including one from the Chabad Shliach to Sevastopol (Crimea), Rabbi Binyomin (Benny) Wolff.

Rabbi Wolff informed the President about the completion of the construction of a new Shul at the place where Jews were shot during the “Great Patriotic War”. Putin noted that he had already invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to open a mosque in the Crimea, and added “Let’s invite another Prime Minister, let’s invite Netanyahu to the opening of the synagogue,” the Russian leader said.

The Shliach informed Putin that there was a delay in the completion of the building due to financial problems, to which he responded with a joke: “Jews have financial problems? It is only possible in Crimea!”.

“In general, the Jewish community in Russia makes a huge contribution to the development of the country. I hope that the Jews in the Crimea will play the same positive role,” the president said. He stated that “Judaism is one of the traditional confessions” in the Russian Federation.

Putin cracks a joke today: "Jews having financial problems? Only in Crimea is this possible."https://t.co/po5ah8KaVx pic.twitter.com/0BTqgrYXSV

— Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt (@avitalrachel) March 18, 2019

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