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I Consider The Decision Of My Colleagues And Friends To Be The Best Birthday Present.
-Vladimir Putin
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I Consider The Decision

Vladimir Putin
...
I Consider The Decision Of My Colleagues And Friends To Be The Best Birthday Present.

Understanding the Quote: "i consider the decision of my colleagues and friends to be the..."

This quote by Vladimir Putin reflects deeply on the theme of decision. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Decision, Best Birthday, Being The Best, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Vladimir Putin interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is celebrated for insightful thoughts on decision and best birthday. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Decision
Best Birthday
Being The Best
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Any Attention To Them (terrorists) On The Part Of The Media, Any Double-standard Interpretation Of Their Motives And Results Of Their Activity Means Nothing But A Political And Administrative Support Of Terrorist Acts
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You Must Obey The Law, Always, Not Only When They Grab You By Your Special Place.
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Their [the U.s.’s] Defense Budget In Absolute Figures Is Almost 25 Times Bigger Than Russia’s. This Is What In Defense Is Referred To As ‘their Home — Their Fortress.’ And Good For Them, I Say. Well Done!
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I Did Not Know That [ The Chancellor Angela Merkel Is A Bit Frightened Of Dogs]. I Wanted To Make Her Happy. When I Learned That She Does Not Like Dogs, I Apologized, Of Course.
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I Will Not Meddle In America's Internal Political Squabbles.
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We Are Going To Set Up A Branch Of The St Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Here [on The Far Easter]. We Are Also Planning To Open Local Branches Of The Hermitage Museum And The Vaganova Academy Of Russian Ballet.
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Frankly Speaking, We All Know That Provoking Military And Political Instability, Regional, And Other Conflicts Is A Helpful Means Of Distracting The Public From Growing Domestic Social And Economic Problems In Certain Countries. Such Attempts Cannot Be Ruled Out, Unfortunately.
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The Climate Is Changing. This Year We Have Come To Understand This When We Faced Events That Resulted In Fires.
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We Discussed This Very Important Issue Yesterday Over A Beer.
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The Natural Economic, Humanitarian And Social Integration, Do Not Require Any Armed Forces.
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Four Years Ago, The Perpetrators Believed They Would Bring America And The Rest Of The World To Chaos, ... But They Were Mistaken.
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Russia Will Not Take Part In Any Field Operations On The Territory Of Syria Or In Other States; At Least, We Do Not Plan It For Now. But We Are Thinking Of How To Intensify Our Work Both With President Al-assad And Our Partners In Other Countries.
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There Are Some Gestures, Of Course, That You Can Only Interpret One Way, But No One Has Ever Seen Those Kinds Of Gestures Directed By Obama At Me Or By Me At Obama, And I Hope That Never Happens. Everything Else Is Fantasy.
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We Have Seen Very Clearly Over These Past Years That There Are Quite A Few People Who Are Sceptical, Or Let Us Put It Another Way, Are Cautious About The Development Of Russian-american Relations, But The Underlying Fundamental Interests Of The United States And Russia Demand That Our Relations Be Normalised.
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I Have Criticized It [europe], But I Repeat: We Keep 40 Percent Of Our Gold And Foreign Currency Reserves In Euros, We Are Not Interested In The Collapse Of The Eurozone, But I Do Not Rule Out The Possibility Of Decisions Being Made That Would Consolidate A Group Of Countries Equal In Economic Development And This, In My Opinion, Will Lead To A Consolidation Of The Euro. But There Can Also Be Some Interim Decisions In Order To Keep The Present Number Of Members Of The Eurozone Unchanged.
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I Have Already Spoken To Three Us Presidents. They Come And Go, But Politics Stay The Same At All Times. Do You Know Why? Because Of The Powerful Bureaucracy. When A Person Is Elected, They May Have Some Ideas. Then People With Briefcases Arrive, Well Dressed, Wearing Dark Suits, Just Like Mine, Except For The Red Tie, Since They Wear Black Or Dark Blue Ones. These People Start Explaining How Things Are Done. And Instantly, Everything Changes. This Is What Happens With Every Administration.
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The Biggest Nationalist In Russia: That's Me.
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President Obama And I Can Meet, Shake Hands And Discuss Current Issues, We - And I Am Personally - Are Always Ready For Such Contacts.
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Some Are Addicted To Cigarettes, Some, God Forbid, To Drugs, And Some Become Addicted To Money. They Say That The Worst Addiction Is To Power. I Have Never Felt That. I Have Never Been Addicted To Anything
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How Can I Be A Gangster, If I Worked For The Kgb? It Is Absolutely Ridiculous.
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I Have Called President Obama, And President Obama Called Me On Various Issues. This Is Part Of Our Regular Contacts, There Is Nothing Unusual Or Extraordinary About It.
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Life Would Be Boring Without Gossip.
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I'm Asking : If The Kosovars Have The Right To Self-determination, Why Should People On Crimea Not Have It? I Would Say: Everyone Should Comply With Uniform International Rules And Not Want To Change Them Any Time One Feels Like It.
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If You Want To Become An Islamic Radical And Have Yourself Circumcised, I Invite You To Come To Moscow... I Would Recommend That He Who Does The Surgery Does It So You'll Have Nothing Growing Back Afterward.
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Believe
Effort
World
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Agreement
Should Have
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Degrees
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Action
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People
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No References To The Need To Fight Terror Can Be An Argument For Restricting Human Rights.
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Principles
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Satisfaction
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Citizens
Humans
Federation
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Issues
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Japan
Years
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Mistakes Can Occur During Hostilities.
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Hostility
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Leader
We Should Not Forget Either About The Interests Of The Regular Consumers Who Need The Prices In Supermarkets To Be A Little Bit Lower.
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Forget
This Gentleman Has Taken On The Very Fashionable Theme Of Fighting Corruption And I Say Again: In Order To Fight Corruption You Have To Be Crystal Clear Yourself. But There Are Problems Here, And In This Regard I Unfortunately Have A Suspicion That This Is Just A Way Of Getting Votes And Not A Genuine Desire To Solve The Problem.
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At No Time In The Past, Now Or In The Future Has Or Will Russia Take Any Part In Actions Aimed At Overthrowing The Legitimate Government. I'm Talking About Something Else Right Now - When Someone Does This, The Outcome Is Very Negative. Libya's State Is Disintegrated, Iraq's Territory Is Flooded With Terrorists, It Looks Like The Scenario Will Be The Same For Syria, And You Know What The Situation Is In Afghanistan.
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Talking
Iraq
I Am Convinced That International Terrorism Gave Itself The Goal Of Not Allowing The Re-election Of Bush. The Statement By Bin Laden In The Final Stages Of The Pre-election Campaign Is The Best Confirmation Of This.
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Campaigns
25 Million Of Russian People Suddenly Turned Out To Be Outside The Borders Of The Russian Federation. They Used To Live In One State; The Soviet Union Has Traditionally Been Called Russia, The Soviet Russia, And It Was The Great Russia. Then The Soviet Union Suddenly Fell Apart, In Fact, Overnight, And It Turned Out That In The Former Soviet Union Republics There Were 25 Million Russians. They Used To Live In One Country And Suddenly Found Themselves Abroad. Can You Imagine How Many Problems Came Out?
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Russia
People
There Are Both Things In International Law: The Principle Of Territorial Integrity And Right To Self-determination.
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Integrity
Self
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Germany
Helping
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Political
Population
I Believe It Is No Secret That I Like Japan Very Much - Japanese Culture, Sport, Including Judo, But It Will Not Offend Anyone If I Say That I Like Russia Even More.
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Believe
Russia
Prime Minister [shinzō Abe] And I Have Spoken A Lot, And We Said All The Right Things, In My Opinion, About Creating An Atmosphere Of Trust And Friendship Between Our Nations And Peoples.
Creating
Atmosphere
Opinion
We Believe We Have No Territorial Problems At All. It Is Only Japan That Believes It Has Territorial Problems With Russia. We Are Ready To Talk About This.
Believe
Russia
Japan
There Is No Uniform, Global Model For Democracy.
Democracy
Uniforms
Models
We Are Expanding And Improving The Infrastructure Of Our Relations. You Must Have Heard About China's Plans To Participate In Building A High-speed Railway Line Between Moscow And Kazan In The Volga Region, In Central Russia. And Then We Plan To Extend It To Kazakhstan And On To China.
Russia
Moscow
Lines
Our Anti-crisis Policy Is Aimed At Supporting Domestic Demand, Providing Social Guarantees For The Population, And Creating New Jobs. Like Many Countries, We Have Reduced Production Taxes, Leaving Money In The Economy. We Have Optimised State Spending.
Country
Jobs
Honesty
I Believe That Meetings At The Top Level In A Relatively Informal Atmosphere Are Always Useful, And There Is Reason To Hope That We Will Make Progress In Resolving The Matters We Will Be Considering.
Believe
Atmosphere
Progress
Some Years Ago Our Japanese Counterparts Asked Us To Resume The Discussions Of The Issue And So We Did Meeting Them Halfway. Over The Passed Couple Of Years The Contacts Were Practically Frozen On The Initiative Of The Japanese Side, Not Ours. At The Same Time, Presently Our Partners Have Expressed Their Eagerness To Resume Discussions On This Issue [the Kuril Islands].
Couple
Islands
Years
Equipping One Side Of An Ethnic Conflict And Then Prodding It To Resolve Its Ethnic Problems By Force Of Arms Is A Very Bad Policy.
Arms
Sides
Problem
The G20 Was Established As A Forum To Discuss, First And Foremost, World Economic Issues. If We Load It With... Of Course, Politics Affects Economic Processes, This Is Obvious, But If We Bring Some Squabbles, Or Not Squabbles, Rather, Some Matters That Are Really Important But Relate Purely To World Politics, We Will Overload The G20 Agenda And Instead Of Addressing Such Issues As Finance, Structural Economic Reforms, Tax Evasion And So Forth, We Will Engage In Endless Debates Concerning The Syrian Crisis Or Some Other Global Challenges, Of Which There Are Many, Or The Middle East Problem.
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Challenges
Important
I Guess I Can Call Myself A Pragmatist With A Conservative Perspective. It Would Be Hard For Me To Explain This, But I Always Take Realities Of Today, Lessons From The Distant And Recent Past Into Consideration.
Past
Reality
Perspective
Take The Creation Of The Pacific Partnership Or The Creation Of The Atlantic Partnership. We Are Somewhat Concerned Because This Is Being Done Bypassing The World Trade Organisation, Since It Has Proved Impossible To Reach Compromise Solutions With Developing Economies Within The Framework Of That Organisation. Is That Good? Not Really, In My Opinion.
Done
World
Opinion
Iraq Is A Small But Very Proud Nation.
Iraq
Proud
Nations
I Am The President Of 146 Million Russians. I Have To Represent Their Interests. We Are Willing To Settle This Without Any Conflicts And To Search For Compromises On The Basis Of International Law.
Law
President
Compromise
Whatever We Do, All The Knowledge, The Experience, They Stay With Us, We Carry Them On, Use Them In One Way Or Another.
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Way
One Way
We Are Ready To Build Large Underground Gas Storages In Turkey, To Participate In The Privatization Of Turkey's Gas-distribution Networks, To Use The Existing And Participate In The Construction Of New Pipelines In Order To Supply Our Energy Resources Through Turkey To Third Countries, Including In Southern Europe
Country
Order
Europe
The Reputation Of Those Countries Which Cater To The Foreign Policy Interests Of Other States At The Expense Of Their Own National Interests Will Go Down Regardless Of How They Explain Their Actions.
Country
Action
Reputation
[economic Restrictions] Is One Of The Elements That Is Destabilising The World Economic Order That Was At One Time Created Largely By The United States Itself At The Dawn Of The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade That Was Later Transformed Into The World Trade Organisation.
Agreement
Order
Elements
Changing Things Is Not Easy, And I Say This Without Any Irony. It Is Not That Someone Does Not Want To, But Because It Is A Hard Thing To Do. Take Obama, A Forward-thinking Man, A Liberal, A Democrat. Did He Not Pledge To Shut Down Guantanamo Before His Election? But Did He Do It? No, He Did Not. And May I Ask Why Not? Did He Not Want To Do It? He Wanted To, I Am Sure He Did, But It Did Not Work Out. He Sincerely Wanted To Do It, But Did Not Succeed, Since It Turned Out To Be Very Complicated.
Men
Work Out
Succeed
I Have To Say That Oil And Gas Revenues Make Up A Large Part Of The Russian Budget Revenue. This Is A Serious Component For Us In Addressing Economic Development, Budget Funding For Our Development Programmes And, Of Course, And Meeting Of Our Social Commitments To Our Citizens.
Commitment
Oil
Serious
We Have Very Close Humanitarian Contacts [with China], Wide-ranging Youth Exchanges, Educational And Regional Contacts, And All Of Them Continue To Develop.
Educational
Youth
Humanitarian
My English Is Very Bad.
It Is A Fact That The Us Defence Budget Is Larger Than The Defence Budgets Of All Other Countries Taken Together. This Is Why I Understand The Us President When He Says That His Nato Allies Should Take Over Part Of This Burden. It Is A Pragmatic And Understandable Approach.
Country
Taken
President
We Have Issued Financial Instruments In The Past, And There Is A Strong Demand For Them, It Is Simply Unnecessary Now.
Strong
Past
Demand
In My Opinion, Provision Of Military Support To Illegal Structures Runs Counter To The Principles Of Modern International Law And The United Nations Charter.
Running
Military
Law
You Made These Things Up Yourselves And Now Scare Yourselves With Them And Even Use Them To Plan Your Prospective Policies. These Policies Have No Prospects. The Only Possible Future Is In Cooperation In All Areas, Including Security Issues. What Is The Major Security Problem Today? Terrorism. There Are Bombings In Europe, In Paris, In Russia, In Belgium. There Is A War In The Middle East. This Is The Main Concern. But No, Let Us Keep Speculating On The Threat From Russia.
War
Scare
Today
What Are We Seeking To Achieve? We Are Seeking To Optimize Budget Spending. I Believe That Even In Such Uneasy Times We Employ A Very Pragmatic Approach Towards Economic And Social Issues. We Do Address Major Social Problems And Deliver On Our Promises To Our People.
Believe
Issues
People
Terrorists Are Always A Threat To Someone. If We'll Be Scared Of Them, It Means They Have Won.
Mean
Scared
Threat
Look, There Is Parliamentary Democracy In Most European Countries, There Is Parliamentary Democracy In Japan, There Is Parliamentary Democracy In Many Countries, But In The United States, For Some Reason, The State Is Organized Differently, There Is Quite A Stringent Presidential Republic.
Country
Japan
Presidential
I Think Happiness Is Love.
Thinking
Without Russia's Contribution, Prices Would Rise Even More. Some Members Of The Eu Meet 90% Of Their Demands For Gas With The Help Of Russian Hydrocarbons And Have No Complaints So Far. Everybody Is Happy. Russia Is A Reliable Partner And Has Never Failed Her Partners In Europe, Even In The Hardest Times Of Its Economic Development.
Russia
Europe
Development
We Must Seek Support In The Moral Values That Have Ensured The Progress Of Our Civilization. Honesty And Hard Work, Responsibility And Faith In Our Strength Are Bound To Bring Us Success. There Should Be No Place For Despondency. The Crisis Can And Must Be Fought By Uniting Our Intellectual, Spiritual And Material Resources.
Spiritual
Honesty
Responsibility
You Recalled The 1956 Declaration, And This Declaration Established The Rules That Should Be Followed By Both Sides And That Should Be Put Into The Foundation Of A Peace Treaty. If You Carefully Read The Text Of This Document, You Will See That The Declaration Will Take Effect After We Sign A Peace Treaty And The Two Islands [kunashir And Shikotan] Are Transferred To Japan. It Does Not Say On What Terms They Should Be Transferred And What Side Will Exercise Sovereignty Over Them.
Exercise
Islands
Japan
By The Way, Japan Is Also Known To Be Actively Engaged In Manned Space Flights As Part Of The International Space Station.
Japan
Space Flight
Way
America Is A Powerful Country And It Has Earned The Right That Nobody From The Outside Can Interfere With It Or Comment On It. We Will Work With Any Administration, With Any President Who Will Win The Support Of The American People, If Of Course They Are Ready To Cooperate With Russia.
Country
Powerful
Winning
I See That Not Everyone In The West Has Understood That The Soviet Union Has Disappeared From The Political Map Of The World And That A New Country Has Emerged With New Humanist And Ideological Principles At The Foundation Of Its Existence.
Country
Political
Foundation
It Is True That The Role Of The State In The Russian Economy May Be Too Big Today, But From The Fiscal Standpoint, It Is Not Always Practical To Do This In A Falling Market.
Fall
Roles
Russian Economy
I Simply Noted That One Of The Groups, Especially Exporters, Would Prefer To Have A Weaker Rouble.
Groups
If Somebody Prefers To Work By Means Of Sanctions, He Is Welcome To Do So. But Sanctions Are A Temporary Measure. Firstly, They Contradict The International Law. Secondly, Tell Me Where This Policy Of Sanctions Proved To Be Effective. The Answer Is Nowhere.
Mean
Law
Answers
I'm Convinced That A Person In My Position Must Provide A Positive Example To People.
People
Example
Position
We Have Good Joint Projects In The Helicopter And Aircraft Manufacturing Industry. We Are Considering Cooperation And Are Actively Cooperating In Space. There Are Good Prospects There [with China].
Space
Joints
Cooperation
The Far East Is Of Particular Significance For Us In Terms Of This Region's Priority Development. Over The Last Few Years, Let Us Say Even Over The Last Decades, We Were Faced With Many Problems Here. We Paid Little Attention To This Territory Although It Deserves A Lot More Of It, Because It Concentrates Great Wealth As Well As Opportunities For Russia's Future Development.
Opportunity
Russia
Years
If European Countries Want To Cater To U.s. Foreign Policy Interests, I Don't Think That They Stand To Gain Anything.
Country
Thinking
Want
When Saddam Hussein Was Eliminated, The Iraqi Statehood And Thousands Of People From The Former Baath Party Were Also Eliminated. Thousands Of Iraqi Servicemen, Who Were Part Of The State's Sunni Elite, Found Themselves Thrown Out Into The Street. No One Gave A Thought About Them, And Today They End Up In The Isis Army.
Party
Army
Isis
This Issue Is Not Economic But Political. I Hope That All Market Participants Interested In Maintaining Stable And Reasonable World Energy Prices Will Finally Make The Right Decision.
Issues
Decision
Political
Russia Should Be Competitive, Be Able To Protect Its Own Interests And Influence The Processes That Are Important To It.
Russia
Important
Able
Our Society, Including The Liberals, Must Understand That There Must Be Order.
Order
Our Society
Including
I'd Rather Not Deal With Such Questions, Because Anyway It's Like Shearing A Pig - Lots Of Screams But Little Wool.
Pigs
Wool
Littles
You Know Every Stage Of Your Life Has An Impact On You.
Impact
Stage
Knows
The Events In Crimea Themselves Have Nothing To Do With What Happened In Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya And Other Regions. In My Opinion, When The World Becomes Unipolar, Or When Someone Tries To Make It So, Then This One Pole Has The Illusion That All Issues Can Be Settled Through Power. And Only When There Is A Balance Of Power Does The Desire To Negotiate Appears.
Iraq
Issues
Desire
Russia Does Not Have In Its Possession Any Trustworthy Data That Supports The Existence Of Nuclear Weapons Or Any Weapons Of Mass Destruction In Iraq And We Have Not Received Any Such Information From Our Partners As Yet.
Russia
Mass Destruction
Data
There Is No Need For The Russian State To Hold Such Large Stakes And We Do Intend To Put Our Plans Into Practice. It Is Not About Whether We Want It Or Not, It Is About This Being Practical Or Not And The Best Timing. In General, It Is Practical From At Least One Point Of View - From The Point Of View Of Structural Changes In The Economy.
Views
Practice
Needs
I Must Admit That We Have Yet To Understand How [donald Trump] Will Develop His Idea, His Pledge To Make America Great Again, But I Hope This Will Not Hinder The Development Of Our Cooperation.
Ideas
America
Development
I Wish That In The Course Of My Visit To Places The Prime Minister [shindzo Abe] Calls Home, All Of A Sudden, We Would Reach A Clear Understanding On How We Can Resolve The Matters. We Will Be Very Glad If That Happens. Are There Any Chances? Perhaps.
Home
Understanding
Wish
Unfortunately, The Relations Between The United Kingdom And Russia Have Not Developed In The Best Possible Way; However, It Has Never Been Our Fault. It Was Not We Who Decided To Discontinue Relations With The United Kingdom; It Was The Uk Who Preferred To "freeze" Our Bilateral Contacts In Various Fields.
Russia
Kingdoms
Way
Nato Remains A Military Alliance, And We Are Against Having A Military Alliance Making Itself At Home Right In Our Own Backyard; In Our Historic Territory. I Simply Cannot Imagine That We Would Travel To Sevastopol To Visit Nato Sailors. Of Course, Most Of Them Are Wonderful Guys, But It Would Be Better To Have Them Come And Visit Us, Be Our Guests, Rather Than The Other Way Round.
Powerful
Military
Home
The Soviet Union, And Russia As The Successor State To The Soviet Union, Is A Founding Member State Of The United Nations And A Permanent Member Of Its Security Council.
Russia
Unions
States
We Would Like To See Science And Higher Education Developing Here [on The Russian Far East], So That It Could Become One Of The Major Research Centres In The Entire Apr System. Undoubtedly A Lot Remains To Be Done Here, But Given The Labour Market Demand, The Relevance Of Such A University Is Undeniable.
East
Done
Research
Britain Is Leaving And Has De Facto Left The European Union; However, It Has Not Withdrawn From Its Special Relationship With The United States And I Believe That The Uk's Relations With Russia Depend On Britain's Special Relationship With The United States Rather Than On Its Presence In Or Absence From The European Union.
Believe
Russia
Leaving
From The Beginning, We Failed To Overcome Europe's Division. The Berlin Wall Fell, But Invisible Walls Were Moved To The East Of Europe. This Has Led To Mutual Misunderstandings And Assignments Of Guilt. They Are The Cause Of All Crises Ever Since.
Wall
Europe
Guilt
This Is A Region [ Far East] With A Substantially Developed Transport And Railroad Infrastructure. In Recent Years We Have Been Actively Developing Road Connection.
Years
Connections
East
As Far As I Know, Russians Are The First Among Tourists Going To Turkey; Last Year Three Million Russians Visited That Country, Although Its Climate Zone Is Almost The Same As The One Of The Black Sea Region. Therefore, We Have Had An Important Task To Develop An Infrastructure In This Region Of The Russian Federation.
Country
Years
Sea
Democracy Means The Power Of The People And The Possibility Of Influencing The Governing Parties. Russia Had Had Enough Experience With A One-party-system - We Will Not Go Back There.
Party
Mean
Russia
Let Us Resolve The Internal Political Problems Of Russia Ourselves
Russia
Political
Problem
Back In 2007, Many People Criticized Me For My Talk At The Munich Security Conference. But What Did I Say There? I Merely Pointed Out That The Former Nato Secretary General Manfred Wörner Had Guaranteed That Nato Would Not Expand Eastwards After The Fall Of The Wall.
Wall
Fall
People
I Am The Wealthiest Man, Not Just In Europe, But In The Whole World. I Collect Emotions.
Believe
Men
Greatest Wealth
Sanctions Against Such Country As Russia Are Unlikely To Be Effective.
Country
Russia
Sanctions
The Issues Of Political Nature Should Be Solved In Any Country, Including In Syria, Primarily By Its People.
Country
Issues
People
Over The Course Of The Year 1990, The Then Chancellor Helmut Kohl And Foreign Minister Hans-dietrich Genscher Had Many Conversations With President [mikhail] Gorbachev And Other Soviet Officials.
Years
President
Gorbachev
Journalism, As Concerns Collecting Information, Differs Little If At All From Intelligence Work. In My Judgment, A Journalist's Job Is Very Interesting.
Jobs
Interesting
Collecting Information
It Is Very Difficult To Enter A Single Currency Zone Having Fairly Weak Economic Parameters And Maintain A Favourable State Of The Economy, Not To Mention Positive Growth Rates. We Have Witnessed It Not Only In Europe, But For Example In Argentina (nearly 10 Years Ago Or More), When They Tied The National Currency To The Dollar And Later They Did Not Know What To Do About It.
Years
Europe
Growth
They [leaders In Western Europe] Do Not Misuse Financial Instruments, Financial Injections, But, First Of All, Seek Structural Change. This Is Urgent For Our Economy As Well, Maybe Even More Urgent Bearing In Mind The Problem That We Cannot Yet Deal With, Namely The Prevalence Of The Oil And Gas Sector In The Russian Federation And, As A Result, Dependence On Revenue From Oil And Gas.
Europe
Oil
Leader
Nobody Should Have Any Illusion About The Possibility Of Gaining Military Superiority Over Russia. We Will Never Allow This To Happen.
Military
Russia
Should Have
We Must Stop Using The Language Of Force And Return To The Path Of Civilized Diplomatic And Political Settlement.
Political
Path
Return
In The 1990s And Early 2000s, There Was A Grave Social Situation In Russia; Our Social Protection System Was Destroyed; Numerous Problems Emerged Which We Have Not Been Able To Cope With Effectively Yet, To Get Rid Of Them, In Health, Sports Development.
Sports
Russia
Development
One Can Feel Calm And At Ease. Just Leave Kids Alone, Please.
Kids
Gay
Ease
Of Course, We Will Work Towards That End. Of Course, We Will Work To Achieve This Result. However, You Have Just Mentioned The 1956 Agreement, And One May Recall That These Negotiations Were Later Terminated, In Effect, On Japan's Initiative.
Japan
Agreement
May
I Have Never Changed. I Feel As Young As I Always Did And Remain Close Friends With Gerhard Schröder.
Close Friends
Never Change
Young
I Believe That In Fact It Would Be Economically Reasonable And Logical To Reach A Compromise [on Oil Production], I Am Sure That Everybody Understands This.
Believe
Oil
Would Be
I Don't Think That Neutrality Is An Obstacle To Austria's Successful Integration Into European And World Structures... But This Is A Question That The Austrian People Themselves Must Decide.
Successful
Thinking
People
All Civilised Countries Should Unite In The Fight Against International Terrorism.
Country
Fighting
Terrorism
For Me, It [crimea] Is Not Borders And State Territories That Matter, But People's Fortunes.
People
Territory
Matter
We Will Keep A Close Eye On What Is Happening And Wait For The Election Results And After That We Will Be Ready To Work With Any Administration Given That It Wants To Work With Us.
Eye
Waiting
Election Results
We Are Actively Preparing A Partial Privatization Of Rosneft Itself. It Is The Best Proof That Our Major Plans Have Remained Unchanged. Another Example Would Be One Of The Largest Russian Diamond Mining Companies In The World. We Are Privatizing Part Of Our Stake In That As Well.
Example
Would Be
World
Here Is An Example: While Resolving Current Issues, Our American Colleagues Made A Proposal On The Syrian Settlement But Then Suddenly Declared At The Un That They Were Not Going To Discuss Anything With Us. It Is Necessary To Understand What People Want In One Department Versus Another Department Of The United States. Do They Have A Common Position? And This Happened Many Times On Very Many Areas Of Our Cooperation.
Issues
People
Want
Oil Production, Energy Production Are Growing, Though The Latter Has Gone Down By About 1 Percent Here, I Believe... By The Way, We Occupy The First Place In The World In Gas Export, Accounting For 20 Percent Of The World Market. We Are Also First In The Sphere Of Liquid Hydrocarbons Export.
Believe
Oil
Energy
Take, For Example, Lithuania. Do You Know, What Was Its Population In The Soviet Times? It Was 3.4 Mln People. It Was A Small Country, A Small Republic. And What Is It Now? I Have Looked Though The Recent Statistics, Today The Population Of This Country Is 1.4 Mln People. Where Are The People? More Than Half Of The Citizens Have Left The Country.
Country
People
Half
We Should Find Other Platforms, Other Forums For That [foreign Policy], And There Are Plenty Of Them, Including, For Example, The Un And The Security Council.
Example
Platforms
Should
The Crimea Is Not A Disputed Territory. Unlike The Case Of Georgia And South Ossetia, There Has Been No Ethnic Conflict There.
Territory
Georgia
Conflict
The United Nations Remains The Sole Universal International Organisation Designed To Maintain Global Peace. And In This Sense It Has No Alternative Today. It Is Also Apparent That It Should Adapt To The Ever-changing World, Which We Discuss All The Time: How It Should Evolve And At What Rate, Which Components Should Undergo Qualitative Changes. Of Course, I Will Have To Or Rather Should Use This International Platform To Explain Russia's Vision Of Today's International Relations, As Well As The Future Of This Organisation And The Global Community.
Russia
Community
Vision
I'm Sure Corruption In Chechnya Is Minimal.
Corruption
Chechnya
Trending Author
Ferdinand Foch
Karen Kingsbury
David Gemmell
Dennis Lehane
Chelsea Clinton
Janis Ian
Category
Information