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There Is No Other Way To Settle The Syrian Conflict Other Than By Strengthening The Existing Legitimate Government Agencies, Support Them In Their Fight Against Terrorism And, Of Course, At The Same Time Encourage Them To Start A Positive Dialogue With The "healthy" Part Of The Opposition And Launch Political Transformations.

-Vladimir Putin

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There Is No Other

Vladimir Putin

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There Is No Other Way To Settle The Syrian Conflict Other Than By Strengthening The Existing Legitimate Government Agencies, Support Them In Their Fight Against Terrorism And, Of Course, At The Same Time Encourage Them To Start A Positive Dialogue With The "healthy" Part Of The Opposition And Launch Political Transformations.

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Not All G8 Members Take The View That Chemical Weapons Were In Fact Used By The Syrian Army. Some Actually Agree With Us That There Is No Proof.

International Terrorists Have Proved Quite Skilled At Misleading Many People About What Is Actually Happening Here In The Caucasus, And They Continue To Mislead People Today.

Our Aims Are Absolutely Clear: They Are A High Living Standard In The Country And A Secure, Free And Comfortable Life.

After All, Despite The Scandalous Behavior Of One And, By The Way, The Other Candidate [they Are Both , Donald Trump And Hillary Clinton, Scandalous In Their Own Ways], They Are Smart, They Are Really Smart And They Are Aware Of The Leverages They Should Use To Make The Voters In The United States Understand Them, Feel Them And Hear Them.

At Some Point A Few Years Ago Japan Unilaterally Stopped Those Talks And Broke Off Contacts With Us. It Was Not We Who Broke Off Contacts With Japan, It Was The Japanese Side That Broke Off Contacts With Us.

The Us Wants To Subdue Russia, To Solve Us Problems At Russia's Expense. No One In History Ever Managed To Do This To Russia, And No One Ever Will.

There Is Also A Huge Potential For Developing The Aviation And Space Industries. As You Might Have Noticed We Have Launched A New Russian Spaceport In One Of The Far Eastern Regions.

I Have Been To Tokyo And Several Other Cities, But I Have Never Been To Yamaguchi Prefecture. I Wonder What It Is Like, What Interesting Things It Has To Offer. I Am Sure That Prime Minister [ Shinzō] Abe Will Tell Me All About It.

I Think: The Powers Like To Talk About "freedom" In Order To Wash The Population's Brains.

We're No Longer In The Cold War. Eavesdropping On Friends Is Unacceptable.

In General, Gazprom Is Doing Well And Is Increasing Export In Its Traditional Partner Countries.

We Cannot Decide For The American People.

Easter Celebrations Are Evidence Of The Increased Benign Influence Of The Russian Orthodox Church And Other Traditional Churches In Our Country On Society.

Stalinism Is Linked With A Cult Of Personality And Massive Violations Of The Law, With Repression And Camps. There Is Nothing Like That In Russia And, I Hope, Will Never Again Be...

Cult Of Personality

Democracy Is An Internal Subject Of The Developing Society. There Are Fundamentals Of Democracy, And They Should Be Understood Universally In Different Countries.

Policies Are Being Pursued That Place On The Same Level A Multi-child Family And A Same-sex Partnership, A Faith In God And A Belief In Satan. This Is The Path To Degradation.

We Always Welcome When Somebody Says He Or She Is Ready To Work With Russia.

The Constitutional Reform Is Supposed To Give Autonomy To Eastern Ukraine And To Be Adopted By The End Of 2015. This Has Not Happened, And The Year Is Over. That's Not Russia's Fault.

No One Wants The United Nations To Suffer The Fate Of The League Of Nations, Which Collapsed Because It Lacked Real Leverage. This Is Possible If Influential Countries Bypass The United Nations And Take Military Action Without Security Council Authorization.

I Would Like To Draw Attention To The Fact That We Have Gone From Pure Trade [with China] In Traditional Goods [energy Resources, Such As Hydrocarbons, Oil And Now Natural Gas, Petrochemicals On The One Hand And Textiles And Footwear On The Other] To A Whole New Level Of Economic Cooperation. For Example, We Are Working Together On Space Programmes. Moreover, We Are Developing And Soon Will Begin The Production Of A Heavy Helicopter. We Are Now Tracing The Plan For The Creation Of A Wide-body Long-range Aircraft.

I Think The American People Should Express Their Preferences And We'll Accept Their Choice.

In My Opinion, Provision Of Military Support To Illegal Structures Runs Counter To The Principles Of Modern International Law And The United Nations Charter.

Democracy Cannot Be Exported To Some Other Place. This Must Be A Product Of Internal Domestic Development In A Society.

I Will Not Offer My Thoughts On What Japan Could And Should Have Done, This Is None Of My Business, It Is The Business Of The Japanese Leadership. But We Should Understand How Practicable All Our Agreements Are As A Whole Given The Allied Obligations Japan Has Assumed, How Much Independence There Is In Making Those Decision, And What We Can Hope For, What We Can Ultimately Arrive At.

Russia Should Be An Effective And Competitive State With A Sustainable Economy, Developed Social And Political System Flexible To Changes Domestically And Globally.

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.

I Was Brought Up In A Very Ordinary Family, In Fact, A Worker's Family. Both My Father And Mother Were Ordinary Citizens.

We Have Very Close Humanitarian Contacts [with China], Wide-ranging Youth Exchanges, Educational And Regional Contacts, And All Of Them Continue To Develop.

The Level Of Our Political Trust [with China] Is Also Very High. We Have Similar Positions On Major International Issues Or Even, As Diplomats Say, Our Views Are Identical. We Often Have Shared Positions On Key Issues Of The Modern International Agenda.

As For That Footage, Video Footage Showing The Dead Children Allegedly Killed In The Chemical Attack, It Is Horrible. The Question Is Only Who Did It And What They Did, And Who Is Responsible For This. These Pictures Do Not Answer The Questions I Have Just Posed. There Is An Opinion That It's A Compilation By These Very Rebels, Who Are Connected With Al-qaida And Who Were Always Distinguished By Exceptional Brutality.

In The Soul Of A Russian Person There Is Always A Drive Toward Some Kind Of Lofty Moral Ideal, Lofty Moral Values. That Definitely Sets Us Apart, And I'm Certain It's In A Good Way.

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.

Terrorism Has Once Again Shown It Is Prepared Deliberately To Stop At Nothing In Creating Human Victims. An End Must Be Put To This. As Never Before, It Is Vital To Unite Forces Of The Entire World Community Against Terror.

My Personal Position Is That Society Must Keep Children Safe.

Thank God, I Think No One Is Thinking Of Unleashing A Large-scale Conflict With Russia. I Want To Remind You That Russia Is One Of The Leading Nuclear Powers.

We Have Spoken On Many Occasions Of The Need To Achieve High Economic Growth As An Absolute Priority For Our Country. The Annual Address For 2003 Set For The First Time The Goal Of Doubling Gross Domestic Product Within A Decade.

I Am A Human Being, A Citizen Of The Russian Federation, A Russian.

They Are Constantly Trying To Drive Us Into A Corner Because We Have An Independent Position, Because We Maintain It And Because We Tell It Like It Is And Don't Engage In Hypocrisy. But There Is A Limit To Everything. And With Ukraine, Our Western Partners Have Crossed The Line, Playing The Bear And Acting Irresponsibly And Unprofessionally.

Nowadays, There Are Plans To Separate The Baltic States From The Common Power System Of The Former Soviet Union And To Integrate Them Into The European System. What Does It Mean For Us In Practice? In Practice, It Means That A Number Of Zones Will Emerge Between Several Regions Of The Russian Federation, Where We Will Have No Power Transmission Lines, Since Previously We Used To Have A Loop Transition Through The Baltic Countries.

Why Don't You Meet Osama Bin Laden, Invite Him To Brussels Or To The White House And Engage In Talks, Ask Him What He Wants And Give It To Him So He Leaves You In Peace?

There Is Something That I Have In Common With Every Citizen Of Russia, The Love For Our Motherland.

Russia Is An Ancient Country With Historical, Profound Traditions And A Very Powerful Moral Foundation. And This Foundation Is A Love For The Motherland And Patriotism. Patriotism In The Best Sense Of That Word. Incidentally, I Think That To A Certain Extent, To A Significant Extent, This Is Also Attributable To The American People.

Our Economy Has Become Completely Different, On The Whole. The Size Has Changed. The Economy Has Almost Doubled In Size. And The Quality Is Changing, Not As Fast As We Would Like It To, But The Structure Is Changing. Our Armed Forces Are Completely Different Today From What They Were, Say 15 Years Ago Or So. All Of This, Including Our Great History, Great Culture, All Of This, Not Just What We See Today, Is What Makes The Vast Majority Of Russia's Citizens Feel Proud For Their Country.

I Like Other Sports, Too, Including Skiing And Swimming, And I Am Learning To Play Ice Hockey Now. But Judo Is Definitely Part Of My Life, A Very Big Part, And I Am Glad That Judo Was The First Sport I Took Up And That I Have Practiced It Regularly And Seriously. I Am Also Grateful To Japan For This.

Our Task Was Not To Conduct A Full-fledged Military Operation There [in Crimea], But It Was To Ensure People's Safety And Security And A Comfortable Environment To Express Their Will. We Did That. But It Would Not Have Been Possible Without The Crimeans' Own Strong Resolution.

The Strengthening Of Our Statehood Is, At Times, Deliberately Interpreted As Authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism

Authoritarian Government

There Is Progress In The Sense That The Prime Minister [shinzō Abe] Has Proposed, Outlined, As It Were, Directions For Movement Toward A Peace Treaty And The Resolution Of Issues Related To Territorial Problems. Now, What Did He Propose? He Proposed Promoting An Environment Of Trust And Cooperation. I Believe It Is Even Hard To Imagine That It Can Be Any Different, That We Can Agree To Sign The Documents That We Are Talking About Without Trusting Each Other Or Without Cooperation. That Is Simply Impossible Even To Imagine.

Trusting Each Other

You Know Every Stage Of Your Life Has An Impact On You.

It's Better To Be Hanged For Loyalty Than Be Rewarded For Betrayal.

I Would Like To Deal With A Person Who Is Able To Take Responsible Decisions And Implement The Agreements Reached. The Name [donald Trump Or Hillary Clinton] Does Not Matter.

It Is Not What Your Supporters, Friends Or Your Political Adversaries Call You That Matters. What Is Important Is What You Think You Must Do In The Interests Of The Country, Which Put You In Such Position, Such Post As The Head Of The Russian State.

We May Have More Control, But My Point Is That, Strictly Speaking, Rosneft Is Not A State Company. I Think That This Is An Obvious Fact, As A Foreign Investor Has A 19.7 Percent Stake In It.

Europe And The United States Are Not The Whole World.

We Can Tell The General Public That The Gold And Foreign Currency Reserves Of The Central Bank Are Not Designed To Finance The Economy, But Rather To Ensure Foreign Trade Turnover. Therefore, We Need This Level To Be Able To Provide The Necessary Foreign Trade Turnover For Such An Economy As Russia's For A Period Of At Least Three Months.

In 2000 The Then Prime Minister Of Japan [yoshirō Mori] Asked Me To Return To This Process, This Conversation, These Talks, And To Do So, Incidentally, On The Basis Of The 1956 Declaration. I Agreed. Since Then We Have Conducted Dialogue In This Regard But I Cannot Say That Our Japanese Partners And Friends Have Remained Within The Limits Of The 1956 Declaration.

We Are Marking The Anniversary Of The Arctic Convoys.we Really Do Consider Members Of The Arctic Convoy To Be Heroes. This Is True. I Am Not Saying This As A Fashion Of Speech.

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.

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.

I Believe A Healthy Lifestyle Is An Extremely Important Thing Which Underpins Solution To Numerous Important Problems, Including The Health Of The Nation.

Sanctions Against Such Country As Russia Are Unlikely To Be Effective.

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.

I Do Not Want To Answer Provocative Question.

Another Point Is That Ultimately, As Far As The Budget Is Concerned, Of Major Importance Is Who Offers More Money During The Bidding That Must Be Organized As A Part Of The Privatization Process. In This Sense, We Cannot Discriminate Against Any Market Participants, Not One Of Them, But This Is Not Relevant At The Moment, As The Government Has Decided To Postpone The Privatization Of Bashneft.

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

You Can Do A Lot More With Weapons And Politeness Than Just Politeness.

We Understand That The Iranian Position Is Very Bad Because Of The Well-known Sanctions Against That Country, And It Would Be Unfair To Leave It On This Sanction Level.

You Too Would Prefer That Russia Maintained Good Relations With Both The United Kingdom And The United States, Wouldn't You? I Would Prefer It As Well. If Anybody In The U.s. Or In The United Kingdom Says: "i Would Like To Establish Good Partnership Relations With Russia", Then Both Of Us, You And Me, Should Welcome That. So Should People Like Me And People Like You. However, We Have No Idea Yet What Would Actually Happen After The Elections [2016]. That Is Why I Am Telling You That We Will Work With Any President Designated As Such By The American Public.

If One Looks At The Map Of The World, It's Difficult To Find Iraq, And One Would Think It Rather Easy To Subdue Such A Small Country.

Whatever We Do, All The Knowledge, The Experience, They Stay With Us, We Carry Them On, Use Them In One Way Or Another.

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.

In Russia All People Enjoy The Equal Rights, Including Homosexuals.

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.

I Think That All Countries Of The Region Should Join Their Efforts In The Fight Against A Common Threat - Terrorism In General And Isis In Particular. It Concerns Iran As Well, It Concerns Saudi Arabia (although The Two Countries Do Not Get Along Very Well, Isis Threatens Both Of Them), It Concerns Jordan, It Concerns Turkey (in Spite Of Certain Problems Regarding The Kurdish Issue), And, In My Opinion, Everybody Is Interested In Resolving The Situation. Our Task Is To Join These Efforts To Fight Against A Common Enemy.

Very Interested In Expanding The Number Of Participants Who Will Take Part In Laying The New Gas Pipeline In Europe.

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.

The Chechnya Problem Is A Centuries-old Problem. The Thing Is That Today, Fundamentalists And Terrorists Are Exploiting Those Centuries-old Problems To Accomplish Their Own Objectives That Have Nothing To Do Whatsoever With The Interests Of Chechnya.

It Is A Major World Power, And Today It Is An Economic And Military Leader - No Doubt About It. That Is Why America Has A Strong Influence On The Situation In The World In General.

Life Would Be Boring Without Gossip.

Yet Our Interests, The Interests Of The Russian Federation, Include The Normalisation Of Relations With Japan, Which Is Not At The Bottom Of The Agenda. The Whole Range Of What Will Be Proposed For A Solution, The Entire Range Of Matters Related To The Normalisation Of Our Relations And What That Would Bring After Normalisation, This Is The Whole Range Of Issues To Be Discussed And Decided, And Those Decisions Should Be Of A Practical Nature.

Given The Cost Of Borrowings And The $100 Billion In Government Reserves, There Is No Reason For Us To Borrow. We Should Review The Situation Carefully. Besides, Borrowings Are Possible, But We Must Understand What Is More Profitable At This Point.

Back In 1956, We Signed A Treaty And Surprisingly It Was Ratified Both By The Supreme Soviet Of The Soviet Union And The Japanese Parliament. But Then Japan Refused To Implement It And After That The Soviet Union Also, So To Say, Nullified All The Agreements Reached Within The Framework Of The Treaty.

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.

Russian Economy

In The Near Future, Despite The Development Of Alternative Energy, When You Look At The Economics And Environmental Standards, Then There's No Other Source Of Primary Energy In The World Than Natural Gas. Well, Perhaps There Is Nuclear Energy But There Are Also A Lot Of Issues There And There Are Opponents Of Nuclear Energy. Gas Doesn't Have Those Opponents. But There Is A Country That Is, Obviously, The World Leader In Gas Reserves. That's Our Country, The Russian Federation.

It Has Nothing To Do With Any Kind Of Exchange Or Sale [of Kuril Island To Japan]. It Is About The Search For A Solution When Neither Party Would Be At A Disadvantage, When Neither Party Would Perceive Itself As Conquered Or Defeated.

However, Crisis In World Trade Is, Among Other Things, The Result Of Using Political Tools In Competition Or Simply For Achieving Political Objectives With The Help Of Economic Restrictions.

Russian Police Force, Fortunately, So Far, Do Not Use Batons, Tear Gas Or Any Other Extreme Measures Of Instilling Order, Something That We Often See In Other Countries, Including In The United States. Speaking Of Opposition, Let Us Recall The Movement Occupy Wall Street. Where Is It Now? The Law Enforcement Agencies And Special Services In The Us Have Taken It Apart, Into Little Pieces, And Have Dissolved It.

I Want To Say That Russia Is Developing Along A Democratic Path, This Is Without Question So. No One Should Have Any Doubts About That. The Fact That, Amidst Political Rivalry And Some Other Domestic Developments, We See Things Happen Here That Are Typical Of Other Countries, I Do Not See Anything Unusual In It. We Have Rallies, Opposition Rallies. And People Here Have The Right To Express Their Point Of View. However, If People, While Expressing Their Views, Break The Current Legislation, The Effective Law In Place, Then Of Course, The Law Enforcement Agencies Try To Restore Order.

Today's Meeting Was Extremely Important And Brought Exceptional Results, ... The Talks Have Shown That The Long-term National And Geopolitical Interests Of Russia And India Coincide.

I Remember My Very First Encounter With Japan. At That Time, I Was Deputy Mayor Of St Petersburg. Out Of Nowhere, Japan's Consul General In St Petersburg Came To My Office And Said Japan's Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Wanted To Invite Me To Japan. I Was Very Surprised Because I Had Nothing To Do With Japan Except Being A Judoka. This Was An Opportunity To Visit Tokyo And A Couple Of Other Cities. And, You Know, A Capital Is A Capital Everywhere: There Is The Official Script And Certain Protocol. It Is Always Easier To Talk In The Provinces, The Conversation Is More Natural.

There Is No Other Way To Settle The Syrian Conflict Other Than By Strengthening The Existing Legitimate Government Agencies, Support Them In Their Fight Against Terrorism And, Of Course, At The Same Time Encourage Them To Start A Positive Dialogue With The "healthy" Part Of The Opposition And Launch Political Transformations.

This Terrible Tragedy.... The Entire International Community Should Unite In The Struggle Against Terrorism This Is A Blatant Challenge To Humanity.

It Is Only Up To The Syrian People Living In Syria To Determine Who, How And Based On What Principles Should Rule Their Country, And Any External Advice Would Be Absolutely Inappropriate, Harmful And Against International Law.

Just Take Kosovo: Back Then, Un Bodies Decided That Kosovo Should Become Independent Of Serbia And That The Interests Of Serbia's Central Government Had To Be Subordinated. You Can Read That In All The Records, Also In The German Ones.

Russia Does Not Want Confrontation Of Any Kind. And We Will Not Take Part In Any Kind Of 'holy Alliance.'

Nobody And Nothing Will Stop Russia On The Road To Strengthening Democracy And Ensuring Human Rights And Freedoms.

In Russia, We Are Ready To Listen To Our Partners, Ready To Listen To Appraisals And Assessments When It Is Done In A Friendly Manner, In Order To Establish Contacts And Create A Common Atmosphere And Dedicate Ourselves To Shared Values. But We Absolutely Will Not Accept When Such Things Are Used As A Tool Of Political Struggle. I Want Everybody To Know That. This Is Our Message.

If The United Kingdom Considers It Necessary To Start A Dialogue On Certain Issues, We Are Ready For That, We Are Not Going To Pout Or Sulk. We Take Quite A Pragmatic Approach Towards Cooperation With Our Partners And We Believe That It Would Be Beneficial For Both Our Countries.

I Love The Russian Classics Very Much, The Russian Classical Literature. But I Also Read Modern Literature. As Far As Russian Literature Is Concerned, I Am Very Fond Of Tolstoy And Chekhov, And I Also Enjoy Reading Gogol Very Much.

Then There Is Another Area Of Activity - Economic Interaction Between Russia And The United States. Right Now, For Example, It Has Already Been Made Public That We Signed A Large Deal To Privatise One Of Our Biggest Oil And Gas Companies, Rosneft. We Know For Sure That Us Companies, As Well As Japanese Ones, By The Way, Are Keenly Interested In Cooperation In Russia's Oil And Gas Sector, In Joint Work. This Has Immense Significance For World Energy Markets And Will Directly Affect The Whole World Economy.

Above All, We Should Acknowledge That The Collapse Of The Soviet Union Was A Major Geopolitical Disaster Of The Century. As For The Russian Nation, It Became A Genuine Drama. Tens Of Millions Of Our Co-citizens And Co-patriots Found Themselves Outside Russian Territory.

Chechnya Is Part And Parcel Of The Russian Federation.

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].

Presidents Come And Go, And Even Parties Come To And Away From Power. But The Main Policy Tack Does Not Change.

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.

I Would Prefer To Abandon The Terminology Of The Past. 'superpower' Is Something Which We Used During The Cold War Time. Why Use It Now?

It Is Clear That The International Community Has No Other Universal Organisation Of The Likes Of The United Nations.

I Am Proud Of Russia And I Am Sure That The Vast Majority Of Russian Citizens Have Great Love And Respect For Their Motherland. We Have Much To Be Proud Of: Russian Culture And Russian History. We Have Every Reason To Believe In The Future Of Our Country. But We Have No Obsession That Russia Must Be A Super Power In The International Arena. The Only Thing We Do Is Protecting Our Vital Interests.

We Are Natural Partners [with Japan] In The World And The Far East, But The Absence Of A Peace Treaty Does Not Allow Us To Develop The Full Range Of Our Relations. Therefore, We Will Naturally Strive To Sign This Treaty.

I Would Like To Assure You That There Is No Organization Or Any Sort Of Repression Against People Who Don’t Agree With Our Actions, For Example In Ukraine, Crimea, Or Any Other External Issue, No One From Official Government Organs Do This.

I Believe That Global Common Interests Are A Good Foundation For Finding Solutions Together.

The Basic Principles Of Democracy Should Be Observed Whatever The Country - Principles Such As Civil Liberties, A Free Market, A Free Press, The Priority Of The Individual Over Mythical State Interests, A State Which Serves The Interests Of Ordinary People And Defends Their Rights And Interests. This Is All Easy To Say But Hard To Make Reality.

I Firmly Believe That The Reputation Of Any Country Which Is Capable Of Defending The Life And Dignity Of Its Citizens, And Can Conduct Independent Foreign Policy Will Only Improve In Mid- And Long-term Perspective.

The International Atomic Energy Agency Is Controlling This, The Sanctions Against Iran Are Lifted - But Still The Us Are Working On Their Missile Defense System. What Is The Point Of This?

In The Referendum - Which Was Still Decided To Take Place By The Crimea's Old Parliament - The Majority Of Citizens Voted For Belonging To Russia. This Is Democracy, The People's Will.

One Of The Most Important Tasks Is To Broaden The Energy Supply ... Energy Determines Today International Security And Social As Well As Economic Development In Many Respects. In Reality The Wellbeing Of Millions Of People Is Directly Dependent In Energy Security.

They Say That Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Was A Homosexual. Truth Be Told, We Don't Love Him Because Of That, But He Was A Great Musician, And We All Love His Music. So What? I Assure You That I Work With These People. I Sometimes Award Them With State Prizes Or Decorations For Their Achievements In Various Fields. We Have Absolutely Normal Relations, And I Don't See Anything Out Of The Ordinary Here.

President Obama Hasn't Been Elected By The American People In Order To Be Pleasant To Russia.

Where In The World Have You Seen Construction People Who Do Everything On Time, With Good Quality And At Minimal Prices? Just Give Me One Country Like That. A Country Like That Doesn't Exist In The World, You Know. There's Not One Such Country Anywhere In The World.

No Matter Who Uses Chemical Weapons Against People And Organisations, The International Community Must Formulate A Common Policy And Find A Solution That Would Make The Use Of Such Weapons Impossible For Anyone.

Donald Trump Is A Brilliant And Talented Person, Without A Doubt.

[yasuhiro] Yamashita Is A Respected Judo Master Not Only In Japan But Across The World. To Me, He Is An Example Of An Outstanding Athlete And A Very Good Man.

Speaking About Our Largest Oil Company Rosneft, And I Recalled In The Beginning That Almost 20 Percent Of It [19.7] Belongs To Bp. Who's Company Is That? British Petroleum, Isn't It? I Suppose That Is Not Bad. I Have To Tell That British Petroleum's Capitalization Is Significantly Related To The Fact That It Owns More Than 19 Percent Of Rosneft, Which Has Vast Oil Reserves Both In Russia And Abroad. This Has Its Impact On The Company's Stability As Well.

We Certainly Would Not Want To Have The Same Kind Of Democracy As They Have In Iraq, I Can Tell You Quite Honestly.

However, There Is A Fundamental Difference Between The Issue Related To Japan's History And Our Negotiations With China. What Is It All About? The Japanese Issue Resulted From World War Ii And Is Stipulated In The International Instruments On The Outcomes Of World War Ii, While Our Discussions On Border Issues With Our Chinese Counterparts Have Nothing To Do With World War Ii Or Any Other Military Conflicts. This Is The First, Or Rather, I Should Say, The Second Point.

I Do Not Even Know Where Bill Clinton Delivered His Speech And I Know Nothing About Any Funds. Both Parties Simply Use It As A Tool In Their Internal Political Contention, And I Am Sure It Is A Bad Thing. But Again, We Welcome The Fact That Somebody Expresses Readiness To Work With Russia Whatever The Name Of That Person.

I Only Had A Telephone Conversation With [donald Trump], Whereas [shinzō ] Abe Met With Him In Person.

The Ability To Compromise Is Not A Diplomatic Politeness Toward A Partner But Rather Taking Into Account And Respecting Your Partner's Legitimate Interests.

One Of Our Objectives Today Is Very Important For Many People, For Millions Of People On Our Planet - It Is Joining Efforts In The Fight Against Terrorism And Other Similar Challenges: Countering Drug Trafficking And Proliferation Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Fighting Famine, Preserving Environment And Biodiversity, Taking Efforts To Make The World More Predictable, More Stable.

Mass Destruction

We Shall Fight Against Them, Throw Them In Prisons And Destroy Them.

We Have Wide-ranging Joint Projects In The Nuclear Energy Sphere, Logistics, Machine Building And Trade As A Whole [with China].

I Assume That Our Colleagues From Both The United States And The European Union Will Proceed From Current Humanitarian Law And Ensure Political Freedoms And Rights Of All People, Including Those Who Are Living In The Territory Of Baltic States After The Disintegration Of The Soviet Union.

Somebody Is Always Suspecting Russia Of Having Some Ambitions, There Are Always Those Who Are Trying To Misinterpret Us Or Keep Something Back.

I'll Be Honest, I Felt An Urge To Squeeze Him Like A Kitten And That Led To The Gesture I Made. There Was Nothing Behind It Really.

However, Given The Fact That The State Has A Controlling Stake In The Company [rosneft], It Might Not Be The Best Course Of Action When One Company Under State Control Buys Another One Fully Owned By The State. This Is One Point.

As For These 60 Years, And In General More Than A Hundred Years, We Have Had Different Periods In Relations And There Have Been Tragic Pages In Our History, But Since 1956 When We Restored Diplomatic Relations, Regrettably, We Have Not Had A Foundation On Which To Build Ties That Would Correspond To Our Wishes And That Are Currently Required In Bilateral Cooperation With Japan.

I Think That Rather Than Talking About Particular Models, Of Which There Could Be A Huge Number, We Should Talk About Basic Principles Of Democracy. After All, Even Within The West, There Is No Single Standard And Single Model.

When The Ruble Is Weaker, It Is Easier To Sell, To Produce Here For A Cheap Ruble And Sell For An Expensive Dollar, Get Revenue In Dollars And Then Exchange It For Rubles And Get A Bigger Income. This Is Simple.

Russia Doesn't Negotiate With Terrorists. It Destroys Them.

Brazil Is One Of The Biggest Latin American Countries, The Biggest, No Doubt, And, More Importantly, It Is A Country With Immense Development Potential.

But If The U.s. Were To Leave Now And Abandon Iraq Without Establishing The Grounds For A United Country, That Would Definitely Be A Second Mistake.

I Am Deeply Convinced That No Interference From The Outside, In Any Country, Even A Small One, Let Alone In Such A Vast And Great Power As The United States, Can Influence The Final Outcome Of The Elections. It Is Not Possible. Ever.

There Are Both Things In International Law: The Principle Of Territorial Integrity And Right To Self-determination.

60 Percent Of Syria Is Controlled Either By Isis, Jabhat Al-nusra Or Other Terrorist Organisations, Organisations That Have Been Recognised As Terrorist By The United States, As Well As Other Countries And The Un. It Is Them And Not Anyone Else Who Have Control Over 60 Percent Of Syrian Territory.

I Bow My Head To The Victims Of Terrorism. I Am Highly Impressed Of The Courage Of New York Residents. The Great City And The Great American Nation Are To Win!

Of Course Germany's Media Are Heavily Influenced By The Country On The Other Side Of The Atlantic Ocean.

I Always Had A Problem When Someone Was Trying To Place Sport In Social And Political Context. Sport Is A Separate And Unique Kind Of Human Activity, Which Functions Under Its Own Rules And Principles. It Has Nothing To Do With The Political Agenda, And Neither It Should. When Politics Interferes With Sport, Unjust Things Happen.

Under The International Agreements, The Russian Peacekeepers Are Committed To Protect The Population Of South Ossetia.

They Act As They Please: Here And There, They Use Force Against Sovereign States, Building Coalitions Based On The Principle 'if You Are Not With Us, You Are Against Us.' To Make This Aggression Look Legitimate, They Force The Necessary Resolutions From International Organizations, And If For Some Reason This Does Not Work, They Simply Ignore The Un Security Council And The Un Overall.

European And American Values Do Not Fully Coincide.

American Values

There Is Nothing In Common Between Al-assad And Isis, They Fight Against Each Other.

We Believe In The Fundamental Principles Of The European Economy.

Here We Have 40 Million Russian Citizens Involved In The Sphere Of Agriculture One Way Or Another. This Is Very Important.

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.

A Foreign Threat Is Useful To Put Things In Order In One's Own Camp, To Make One's Allies Follow The Bloc Discipline. Iran Does Not Fit This Role Too Well, And It Is Very Tempting To Revive Russia's Image Of The Enemy. But Nobody In Europe Is Afraid Anymore.

I Have Heard This A Thousand Times. Of Course Every State Has The Right To Organize Its Security The Way It Deems Appropriate. But The States That Were Already In Nato, The Member States, Could Also Have Followed Their Own Interests - And Abstained From An Expansion To The East.

The Proliferation Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction Also Represents A Serious Danger. If These Weapons Were To Fall Into The Hands Of Terrorists, And They Pursue This Aim, The Consequences Would Be Simply Disastrous.

Mass Destruction

We Are Currently Gradually Stabilizing Our Economy.

First, The Constitution [of Ukraine] Has To Be Reformed. Only Then Can Confidence Building And Border Security Follow.

We Want Full-scale Normalisation Of Relations [with Japan].

To Pay More Is The Easy Way. In Fact, The Solution Possibilities To The Problem Are Many.

Economic Crimes Are Complex In Nature, Difficult To Untangle, And They Must Be Investigated According To The Procedures Set By The Law.

I Would Like To Inform You With Great Satisfaction Of A New Step Forward On Establishing Partnership Between Russia And Japan

I Do Not Think I Have The Right To Determine The Political Future Of Syria, Be It With Or Without Al-assad. This Is For The Syrians Themselves To Decide. Nobody Has The Right To Claim The Rights That Belong To The People Of Another Country.

Russia Had To Take The Necessary Measures In Order To Prevent The Situation In Crimea Unfolding The Way It Is Now Unfolding In Southeastern Ukraine. We Didn't Want Any Tanks, Any Nationalist Combat Units Or People With Extreme Views Armed With Automatic Weapons.

Judo Has Been Part Of Japanese Culture For A Long Time. It Makes Sense To Me That This Sport, Which Is Both Athletic And Philosophical, Was Created In Japan. It Is Based On Respect For The Partner And For Our Elders As Our Teachers, Which Is Very Important And Makes A Strong, Positive Contribution To Human Relationships, And Not Only In Sports. I Am Happy That Life Brought Me To This Wonderful Sport As A Child. It Is Like My First Love.

We Conducted Talks On Border Issues With Our Friends In The People's Republic Of China For 40 Years. There Were Also Issues Related To Specific Territories.

It Is Well Known That Russia Has Many Interesting And Promising Developments In The Military-technical Sphere. We Are Ready To Deliver The Needed Equipment And Ready For Joint Cooperation In Arms Production With Brazilian Specialists. This Is An Area That Is Very Closely Linked To High Technology In General. In This Respect, We Hope To Develop Closer Cooperation Between The Scientific Communities In Our Two Countries.

The Prime Minister [shinzō Abe] Also Highlighted The Need To Address General Humanitarian Issues. We Already Mentioned One Of These Issues: Visa-free Travel By Japanese Citizens To The South Kuril Islands.

The Central Bank Should Take Into Account Other Things As Well: The Stability Of The Bank System In The Country, The Increase Or Decrease Of Money Supply In The Economy, Its Influence On Inflation.

People Are Always Teaching Us Democracy But The People Who Teach Us Democracy Don't Want To Learn It Themselves.

We Have Made Mistakes! We Were Too Late. If We Had Presented Our National Interests More Clearly From The Beginning, The World Would Still Be In Balance Today.

I Assume Most People Trust Me, If They Vote For Me In Elections. And It Is The Most Important Thing. It Places Great Responsibility On Me, Immense Responsibility. I Am Grateful To The People For That Trust, But I Surely Feel Great Responsibility For What I Do And For The Result Of My Work.

I Insist That People - Wherever They Live - Have Their Rights And They Must Be Able To Fight For Them.

We [with Shindzo Abe] Should Understand That The Results Of That Terrible Tragedy Of The 20th Century, Namely World War Ii, Are Enshrined In Corresponding International Documents, And Finding A Way To Settle All Disputes Without Destroying The Entire Foundation Of International Law That Evolved As A Result Of World War Ii Is A Highly Delicate Task. Therefore, I Would Like To Reiterate That We Cannot Second-guess The Course, Let Alone The Outcome Of Our Negotiations.

The Biggest Nationalist In Russia: That's Me.

Respecting The Sovereignty Means Preventing Coups, Unconstitutional Actions And Illegitimate Overthrowing Of The Legitimate Government. All These Things Should Be Totally Prevented.

The Demise Of The Soviet Union Was The Greatest Geopolitical Catastrophe Of The Century.

However, It Was Not Us Who Refused To Freeze Oil Production; Our Saudi Partners Changed Their Point Of View At The Last Moment And Decided To Slow Down The Adoption Of This Decision. I Would Like To Reiterate Our Position, It Remains The Same.

The Us Tactical Nuclear Weapons Are In Europe, Let Us Not Forget This. Does It Mean That The Us Has Occupied Germany Or That The Us Never Stopped The Occupation After World War Ii And Only Transformed The Occupation Troops Into The Nato Forces?

If Someone Is Willing To Reconsider The Results Of World War Ii, Let Us Discuss This. But Then We Will Have To Discuss Not Only Kaliningrad, But Also The Eastern Lands Of Germany, The City Of Lvov, A Former Part Of Poland, And So On, And So Forth. There Are Also Hungary And Romania On The List.

As For The Criticism We Receive, You Know, Even Mr. [donald] Trump's Team Criticize Us. For Instance, One Of The Participants Or Members Of His Team Claimed That Russia Was Giving Money To The Clintons Through Some Funds And That In Fact Russia Is Controlling The Clinton Family. This Is Nonsense.

If I Said That Oil Production Would Collapse I Was Wrong.

We Handed Over Nothing, Those Territories [tarabarov Island To China] Were Disputed And We Have Been Negotiating This Issue With The People's Republic Of China, Let Me Stress That, For 40 Years, And Finally Managed To Come To An Agreement. One Part Of The Territory Was Assigned To Russia, While Another Part - To The People's Republic Of China.

Therefore Today We Have An Absolutely Sufficient Level Of Gold And Foreign Currency Reserves In Order To Ensure Economic Stability And Sustainable Foreign Trade Turnover.

If Nato Troops Walk In Crimea, They Will Immediately Deploy Their Forces There. Such A Move Would Be Geopolitically Sensitive For Us Because, In This Case, Russia Would Be Practically Ousted From The Black Sea Area. We'd Be Left With Just A Small Coastline Of 450 Or 600km, And That's It!

I Have Always Thought And I Still Think That The Central Bank Should Act Independently. Indeed, It Does, You Can Take My Word. I Do Not Interfere In The Decisions Of The Central Bank And I Do Not Give Instructions To The Bank Management Or To Its Head.

My Position Is That The Rate Should Align With The Level Of Economic Development. Because It Is Always About A Balance, A Balance Of Interests, And It Should Reflect This Balance. A Balance Between Those Who Sell Something Across The Border And Those Who Benefit From A Low Rate, As Well As A Balance Between The Interests Of Those Who Buy, Who Need The Rate To Be Higher. A Balance Between National Producers, For Example, Agricultural Producers Who Are Interested In It.

It Was At A Certain Stage (you Might Have Forgotten, Haven't You?) That The United States Actively Collaborated With Saddam When He Was At War With Iran: Weapons Were Supplied, Diplomatic And Political Support Was Provided And So On. Then The Us Fell Out With Him For Some Reason And Decided To Do Away With Him.

We Need To Use The United Nations Security Council And Believe That Preserving Law And Order In Today's Complex And Turbulent World Is One Of The Few Ways To Keep International Relations From Sliding Into Chaos. The Law Is Still The Law, And We Must Follow It Whether We Like It Or Not.

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.

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.

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.

Russia Is A Very Reliable And Big Market. I Don't Remember The Figure But, For Example, The German Machine-building Industry Has Been Increasing Its Supplies To Russia Every Year. These Supplies Are Huge. Does Someone Want To Discontinue These Supplies? We'll Buy From Somebody Else.

We Have Never Meddled In The Domestic Affairs Of Any State And We Never Will.

Though We Still Come First In The Sphere Of Gas Export, National Production Has Diminished Due To The Increasing Volumes Of Hydrogenation For The Electric Power Industry And Therefore There Is A Lower Need For Gas At Thermal Power Plants.

This Is Not Only A Matter Of Relations Between Russia And The United States. In My View, Any Restrictions In The Economic Sphere That Are Dictated By Considerations Of Political Expediency Are Extremely Harmful For The World Economy As A Whole. This Destroys Unity And The Rules Of The Game.

Nowhere Is It Written That Nato Had To Accept Certain Countries. All That Would Have Been Required To Refrain From Doing So Was The Political Will. But People Didn't Want To.

There Is No One Else At All Who Is Fighting Isis On The Ground, Except For President Al-assad's Army.

I've Repeatedly Seen The Anti-russian Card Played During Domestic Political Campaigns In The States. I Think That It's A Very Short-sighted Approach. It Seems To Me That It Doesn't Fully Meet The Level Of Responsibility That Lies On The Shoulders Of The U.s. I Think That All This Should Be More Dignified, Calm And More Balanced.

We Discussed This Very Important Issue Yesterday Over A Beer.

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Alessandra Ambrosio

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