Putin urges stronger action to prevent wildfires

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged authorities to take stronger action to prevent wildfires and increase coordiation between various official agencies in dealing with them. Speaking in Tuesday’s video call with federal and regional officials, Putin emphasized that wildfires that hit Russia last year were the most massive in years and asked local governors to report on measures that were taken to increase fire safety across the country. He noted that a series of wildfires already spread across several regions. He reaffirmed the importance of forests for dealing with global warming, noting that “large-scale wildfires undermine our climate protection efforts.”