Kremlin gives book of Putin quotes to Russian officials

Kremlin aide Vyacheslav Volodin recommended the book to a meeting of officials as 'required reading for any politician'

The blizzard of bad news is challenging leaders who once blithely said that 2016 would be a year of recovery rather than continued recession. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP/Getty Images)

Nearly 1,000 Russian politicians and officials have been sent a book of President Vladimir Putin quotes by the Kremlin as a New Year gift.

The collection was sent by Kremlin aide Vyacheslav Volodin, who told several officials the book would help them understand the Kremlin's "values and guiding principles", according to RBC.

Anonymous politicians told the Russian daily business newspaper Mr Volodin had recommended the book to a recent meeting of officials as "required reading for any politician".

Words That Change the World: Key Quotes by Vladimir Putin, is a nearly 400-page collection of 19 speeches by President Putin. It highlights key quotes in bold, which the introduction says "predicted and preordained" world events.

Among the texts are reportedly a 2007 speech in Munich, in which President Putin accused the US of seeking to dominate the global order, and his 2004 address defending the annexation of Crimea.

The book was published by the pro-Kremlin youth organisation "The Network," which the Daily Telegraph reports has received substantial government funding for similar projects.

"We noticed that everything Putin says, to some extent, comes true," Anton Volodin, author of the book, said in a statement. "Putin's words can be described as prophetic."

The book would soon be translated into English, he added. It is scheduled to hit Russian bookstores in late January.

However, the Kremlin has distanced itself from the book. President Putin's official spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the state-operated agency RIA he had not seen the book, so could not comment.