IMAGE: kremlin.ru
On June 6th, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with representatives of leading global news agencies. The meeting took place at the sidelines of the XXIII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
In attendance were representatives of information agencies from Great Britain, Germany, Iran, Spain, Italy, China, USA, France and Japan. Russia was represented by TASS Director General Sergei Mikhailov.
By tradition, the main topics of the meeting were key issues of the internal and foreign policy of Russia. This is the 6th such meeting that has taken place on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“This year my meetings with forum guests begin with you. I am glad of this because we will have a little bit of a difference in today’s short discussion, which will give me the opportunity, perhaps, to feel that it may be of interest to our other partners who have come to the forum this year,” Putin said.
The first word was given to Sergey Mikhailov, and Putin said that he would try to answer each of the representatives’ questions as completely as possible.
Mikhailov began by thanking the Russian President for putting time aside to speak to representatives of global news agencies that account for approximately 90% of the global news flow.
Global Situation
The very first question was asked by TASS’ Sergey Mikhailov. Keeping in mind that the world is once again in a crisis with “countries exploding, entire regions ablaze, sanctions, trade wars, fake news,” practically fill the global news outlets. There is allegedly a new “cold war,” every country is sure in knowing who the guilty parties are.
“Thus, we have to start our 2019 conversation with the same question: why is the world not becoming safer? Where is our civilization heading towards? Do you see a light at the end of the tunnel? What are the main countries – participants of the political process – doing about it?”
Vladimir Putin:
“After the invention and creation of nuclear weapons, mankind has been in a state of relative peace, relative, of course, with the exception of regional conflicts, a state of relative global peace for almost 75 years.
Let us remember Churchill, who first hated the Soviet Union, then called Stalin a great revolutionary, when it was necessary to fight Nazism, and after the Americans got nuclear weapons, he called for the Soviet Union to be virtually destroyed. Remember, his speech at Fulton was the start of the Cold War.
But as soon as the Soviet Union acquired nuclear weapons, Churchill initiated the coexistence of the two systems. And not because, I think, he was not such an opportunist, but he was a realist. A clever man, a practical politician.
Nowadays, little has changed since then. We should just keep in mind, understand what kind of world we live in, what threats and dangers await us. If we do not keep this “fiery serpent” under control, if we let it out, God forbid, from the bottle. This can also lead to a global catastrophe.”
The Russian President continued by saying everybody currently is dealing with environmental issues, with climate change, because “it is a global threat.”
“All of this is good. Children are already engaged in this, girls, boys all over the world.
But they do not realize, young people, and especially teenagers, children do not realize the global threat and such a serious challenge related to the issues of possible global conflicts. It is the adult’s job to think of this.”
Putin said he had been left with the impression that this was falling to the background because of other issues, such as the US withdrawing from the INF treaty.
“Our American partners took and withdrew from the INF Treaty. And why, dear ladies and gentlemen, I want to appeal to you. Did some of you actively protest, went out with posters?
No, silence. As if it should be. But this was the first step towards the fundamental buildup of the entire framework of international relations in the field of global security, and a very serious step.”
He further shifted focus towards the US also withdrawing from the New START.
“In the first case [INF], at least, they behaved in an honest manner: they simply left unilaterally, and that was all. And in the second, apparently understanding that it will be necessary to bear responsibility for this, they are trying to blame Russia.
Listen to me: take, you and your readers, listeners, viewers, open the Treaty on the prohibition of medium- and shorter-range missiles, read it. In the same place, right in the articles, it is written: “Launchers of short- and medium-range missiles cannot be placed on land.” It is directly stated in the treaty. But they put such weapons in Romania, they put them in Poland now. This is a direct violation.”
He then likened the attack UAVs to short and intermediate range missiles, saying they were the same. He further said that the mock targets for the missile defense systems were also short and intermediate-range missiles.
“Everyone pretends as if they cannot see, cannot hear, cannot read, deaf and blind. We have to react to it somehow, right? This is the obvious thing. Immediately looking for those responsible in the face of Russia. Of course, the threat is serious.”
In his words, Russia wants to renew the new START-3 Treaty, but it may be impossible.
“Our newest systems are such that we are guaranteed to ensure the security of Russia for a fairly long historical perspective, I mean, we have made a significant step forward.”
He said that Russia has undertaken its enemy in terms of hypersonic weapons and if nobody wants to renew the START-3 Treaty, then it wouldn’t be renewed.
“We have already said a hundred times that we are ready, yet no one is holding any negotiations with us.
After all, there is no formal formalization of the negotiation process, and in 2021 everything will end. I draw your attention – in general there will be no tools that limit the arms race.”
He then pointed attention to placing weapons in space, which would mean that each nuclear-armed country with have a nuclear weapon just flying above it. But no experts were talking about it, complete silence.
“Or the creation of tactical nuclear weapons, or strategic weapons without a nuclear warhead. From a submarine somewhere from the world’s oceans, a global-range rocket is launched, strategic, how do we know if it is nuclear-powered or not? Do you understand how serious this is, how dangerous it is?
And if the other side immediately answers, what will it lead to? I am deeply convinced that this should be a subject of open, absolutely transparent, professional discussion, and the world community should be a participant in this process as far as possible in matters of this kind. In any case, people have the right to know what is happening in this area.”
He said that there was some hope, the last conversation he had with US President Donald Trump inspired optimism. Trump was concerned about the issue as well.
“He understands what expenses the United States and all other countries of the world are carrying; this money could be spent for other purposes. I completely agree with him.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, during his visit in Sochi also said the same, according to Putin. Thus, if the US also felt the same way, then steps needed to be taken.
According to Vladimir Putin, the “light at the end of the tunnel” was the hope that a global platform to discuss the issue could be organized, not with just the countries that have nuclear weapons, but with other countries that could potentially develop them in the future.
Regarding the EU, Putin said that Russia doesn’t need a weak Europe, he said that Moscow stores 40% of its foreign exchange reserves in the euro and that the European Union is the largest trade and economic partner.
If the European Parliament starts to cancel anti-Russian restrictions, then Russia is ready for their mutual removal.
The President also noted the intensification of Russian-Bulgarian cooperation in almost all areas.
Regarding relations with the UK, he said that he hoped “the sad page” in Moscow-London relations would be turned.
“In the end, we must turn this page related to spies with assassinations,” Putin said.
According to him, “global issues related to national interests in the economic and social sphere are more important to security than spy games.” Putin referred to his experience in the special services, stressing that he makes such a statement “as an expert.”
He is convinced: “We must reject all the tinsel and get down to business in the end.”
“I expect that anti-Russian sentiments in the UK will not be artificially inflated, but, on the contrary, a choice will be made in favor of the development of our relations and cooperation,” the Russian president noted. He assured that Moscow is ready for such a development of events.
When it comes to Iran, Putin said that Russia does not agree with the actions of the United States with respect to Iran and calls for a return to normal dialogue. According to him, all claims against Tehran can be discussed without destroying the agreements reached earlier.
Putin expressed concern that Washington’s methods on this issue could lead to “the very last choice.”
“For example, I noticed that President [US Donald] Trump recently said or wrote on the networks that in principle he is ready for meetings and talks with his Iranian counterpart with the Iranian president. This can only be welcomed,” the Russian leader said.
Regarding modern communications, Putin suggested that countries should create rules in how to use mass media in relation to each other.
“Let us agree on common rules of behavior, we will undertake certain obligations and will then influence our citizens, individuals and legal entities,” Putin said. At the same time, he noted: “Then we must understand that the same decisions are also taken on our partners’ side regarding us.”
He further said that Russia doesn’t involve itself in the internal matters of other countries and hopes that other countries would do the same.
Economy:
The second question in the meeting came from Rosalind Mathieson from Bloomberg. She asked Putin oil and the new deal that needs to be signed with OPEC.
“Do you think that you want to keep production at the same level, or do you want to increase oil production as we approach the second half of the year?”
She asked if Russian personnel was, in fact, withdrawing from Venezuela and if Russia was concerned the US wanted regime change in the country. She further asked if Russia’s interest in Venezuela was due to it wanting to seize its oil reserves.
“Let’s start with the final one, about whether we have removed our people from Venezuela or not, whether we fear a change of regime. We are generally against interference in the internal political affairs of other countries. We believe that this leads to very difficult, if not to say tragic consequences. And the example of, say, countries such as Libya, Iraq, are the best confirmation of this.”
He commented on the fact that Bloomberg was an outlet focused on finance and economy, but continued asking about military issues and the possibility of an armed intervention.
He said that the sanctions impositions were not the right way, since millions of people who are complete innocent were suffering from them.
“If we take, for example, the fact that Venezuela has halved oil production twice in recent years (twice!), If we take into account the situation in which millions of people live in Venezuela live, then who are the US fighting against: Maduro or the population?”
Regarding Russian presence in the country, Putin said that Russia had legally and with due process sold weapons in the past and that they were contractually obliged to maintain them.
He said that Russia doesn’t want to seize Venezuela’s oil reserves, and that the Latin American country had a debt of $3.5 billion to Russia. But it was fulfilling its credit obligations and paying it fully and in due time.
Regarding OPEC, Russia would continue its cooperation mechanism and decisions will be consolidated with the group.
He said that Russia would like to sell oil cheaper, but countries such as Saudi Arabia wanted it higher, because that was their policy and they depend much more on oil.
“Yes, our dependence on oil and gas is still very large, but it is, of course, much more diversified than in the Gulf countries, for example. Therefore, our processing industry itself is not interested in oil prices that are too high.”
Then, the reduction of production from Iran and Venezuela would need to be taken into account, together with the increased consumption in summer. Arrangements would be made with OPEC, but anything specific couldn’t be shared just yet, according to Putin, before a consolidated decision is reached with the representatives from OPEC.
Regarding economic development, Putin was asked the following:
“I would like to know what specific plans and measures you have for the further recovery of the Russian economy, what plans do you have to strengthen Russia’s economic interaction with China? What key areas could you highlight?”
Putin said that Russia had managed to counteract the sanctions, but they weren’t that significant to begin with. The biggest hit on the Russian economy was the fall in prices of for hydrocarbons, for some metals, respectively, for chemical products associated with the raw materials.
He said that due to a sustainable macroeconomic situation, first of all, Russia managed to overcome its difficulties.
Putin said that the main plan was to implement national projects in key development areas, diversify the economy and focus heavily on innovation.
“There is a whole set of goals and measures, ways to achieve these goals: this is an improvement of the management system as a whole of the economy, and of the country – in general, this is digitalization and management of the economy itself, this is work on introducing artificial intelligence into all spheres of production and life of the country this is work in the direction of medicine, biology, improving the quality of life of people, increasing life expectancy, increasing fertility, and so on — there is a whole set of measures; you just need to have a quick look at the goals we set, it will be clear what we expect in the next few years.”
There is a big shift towards attracting foreign and internal investment.
“But in order to ensure these investments, the state must invest its own resources, first of all, of course, in the development of infrastructure, in improving the working conditions of the business.”
He said that despite Trump’s sanctions, trade between Russia and the US and with the EU has gone up.
“By the way, under President Obama, our trade turnover fell from $ 30 billion to $ 20 billion. In spite of the fact that President Trump, in my opinion, has broken all records for imposing various restrictions on Russia, the volume of trade between Russia and the USA has grown $5 billion, and is growing with the European countries.”
He said that he frequently meets with British, German, French and Italian businesses and talks about improving their working conditions in Russia.
Finally, he said that the increase in VAT led to a small increase in inflation, but that was a short-term detriment and that business activity would get reduced. But that would only last about half a year, “and then through investments, investments in the economy, and into infrastructure itself, business would receive a jolt and there would be an increase in growth rates. So far, everything is happening according to our preliminary calculations.”
Defense:
In terms of Defense, Vladimir Putin said that military cooperation between Japan and the US presented difficulties in signing a peace treaty between Russia and Japan.
“Indeed, this is largely due to Japan’s military cooperation with the United States,” the head of state emphasized. He recalled the “freezing” of the US Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles and that Japan has a positive attitude towards the deployment of various weapons systems on its territory, including American ones. “We do not question the right of Japan to provide its security with the means that it considers most effective and necessary, this is the sovereign right of any country,” said the president. or may change in this regard in the region from the point of view of ensuring the security of the Russian Federation. “
He calmly reacted to not being invited to the Anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.
It does not matter, Putin said, answering the question of whether he was concerned about the lack of an invitation. “What matters is the truth about history and the terrible tragedy that befell humanity during the Second World War.”
“We also do not invite everyone, not for every event. Why do I have to be invited? I’m having a wedding general or something?” He added with a smile. “I have enough things to do.”
“If you go in for conspiracy, you can imagine that Western leaders wanted to sneak among themselves before making any contact with us,” the head of state joked.
Separately, he questioned the glorification of Nazism in Ukraine and the Baltic states.
“In no case should we allow anyone to distort history and make real heroes out of false heroes,” the head of state emphasized.
“People with a swastika are walking around. Why is the glorification of Nazism going on there?”
He noted that only activists of the Jewish movement are fighting this in Europe. “All the others keep their mouth shut for some reason, based on today’s short-term considerations,” Putin said. “This is a disgrace, it’s simply ugly,” he said.
In closing, Putin said that Russia had many heroes such as Pushkin, Peter I, Tchaikovsky and that people should look to them for inspiration.
Finally, he said that young people should spend some time reading the Holy writings, be it the Bible, Quran or Torah.
“Because all world religions have humanistic beginnings, and if we follow them, we follow these rules, the world will be better, calmer and more stable,” the Russian leader concluded.
