Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed to improve people's lives and fight extremists.

Putin spent over four hours talking to fellow citizens during an annual national question-and-answer session live on Thursday.

The majority of the questions were connected to wage rises, improvement of housing conditions, and population conditions. Putin stressed Russia's GDP would return to pre-crisis levels by the first half of 2012. He vowed to control traffic jams, gradually decrease the import of pharmaceutical products, and combat several other domestic problems. He also said Russia must take tough measures against all forms of extremism, urging a crackdown on terrorism.