I have worked like a galley slave throughout these eight years, morning till night, and I have given all I could to this work. I am happy with the results. Vladimir Putin More Quotes by Vladimir Putin More Quotes From Vladimir Putin Terrorists are always a threat to someone. If we'll be scared of them, it means they have won. But that doesn't mean we can have a devil-may-care attitude toward this threat. We must do everything to stop these threats and not give the terrorists a single chance to demonstrate their brutality and hatred of mankind. Vladimir Putin gay attitude mean 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. Vladimir Putin oil adoption views It's difficult to talk to people who whisper even at home, afraid of Americans eavesdropping on them. It's not a figure of speech, not a joke, I'm serious. Vladimir Putin speech home people We still have a great amount of work to do in social development, including resolving one of the biggest challenges we face in this area, namely, reducing the gap between high-income earners and people, citizens of our country, who are still living on very modest means indeed. But we cannot, of course, adopt the solution used 80 years ago and simply confiscate the riches of some to redistribute among others. We will use completely different means to resolve this problem, namely, we will ensure good economic growth. Vladimir Putin mean country years 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. Vladimir Putin income dollars simple I have criticized foreign policy, but that does not mean that we should agree with everything. Indeed, we criticize a lot of things, we think that our partners make many mistakes [may be we make mistakes too, no one is immune to making mistakes], but as for the economy, I repeat that, in my opinion, the European Commission and the leading European economies are acting very pragmatically and are on the right path. Vladimir Putin mistake mean thinking 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. Vladimir Putin decision agreement names I believe that a country, Russia in this case, which can defend the honour and dignity of its citizens, protect their lives, and fulfill its international legal commitments under the peacekeeping mandate, will not find itself in isolation, no matter what our partners in Europe or the United States may think, expressing their bloc mentality. Vladimir Putin believe country commitment 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. Vladimir Putin russia giving-money team It is no accident that I mention our American friends, as they are always influencing our relations with our neighbors either directly or behind the scenes. Sometimes you don't even know who to talk to - the governments of certain countries or directly to their American patrons. Vladimir Putin behind-the-scenes government country 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. Vladimir Putin oil serious commitment We have every reason to say, and I note this with great satisfaction, that a truly friendly relationship has evolved with China, and in many key areas these relations, without any exaggeration, have a strategic character. As we say, the strategic character of privileged partnership. Vladimir Putin keys friendly character One must not allow oneself to skid down to isolationism and unbridled economic egoism. ... The second possible mistake would be excessive interference into the economic life of the country. And the absolute faith into the all-mightiness of the state. Vladimir Putin honesty mistake country Journalism, as concerns collecting information, differs little if at all from intelligence work. In my judgment, a journalist's job is very interesting. Vladimir Putin collecting-information jobs interesting 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. Vladimir Putin half country people 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. Vladimir Putin opinion done world I have never changed. I feel as young as I always did and remain close friends with Gerhard Schröder. Vladimir Putin never-change close-friends young I hope that being in places from the [Shinzo Abe] Prime Minister's past will motivate us to have a sincere, very practical and, I hope, productive conversation. Vladimir Putin prime sincere past Russia will not soon become, if it ever becomes, a second copy of the United States or England - where liberal value have deep historic roots. Vladimir Putin second-chance russia roots I am never guided by a possible assessment of my work. Vladimir Putin assessment