We are concerned about the instability of the markets, the high volatility of energy and commodity prices, and the accumulation of sovereign debt by a number of countries, these imbalances affect the growth rate and our economies. In these circumstances, the BRICS states intend to actively use their own resources and internal resources for development.

Vladimir Putin

Categorized in : Energy

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.

Vladimir Putin

wall people fall

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.

Vladimir Putin

gorbachev president years

This, for instance, is what Egon Bahr said on June 26, 1990: "If we do not now undertake clear steps to prevent a division of Europe, this will lead to Russia's isolation."Bahr, a wise man, had a very concrete suggestion as to how this danger could be averted.

Vladimir Putin

wise europe men

[Egon] Bahr even said: If Russia agreed to the NATO expansion, he would never come to Moscow again.

Vladimir Putin

moscow expansion 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.

Vladimir Putin

atmosphere creating opinion

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.

Vladimir Putin

expansion east way

Our agreements on creating the conditions for preparing a peace treaty [with Japan] should be rooted in this trust. This may be achieved, for example, by large-scale economic activities that will also cover the Kuril Islands. It may be achieved by solving purely humanitarian issues, for instance, unhindered visa-free travel by former residents of the Southern Kuril Islands to where they used to live: visiting cemeteries, native places and so on.

Vladimir Putin

creating issues islands

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.

Vladimir Putin

trusting-each-other issues believe

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.

Vladimir Putin

mass-destruction fighting people

President Obama and I can meet, shake hands and discuss current issues, we - and I am personally - are always ready for such contacts.

Vladimir Putin

issues president hands

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.

Vladimir Putin

unusual issues president

Nothing matters for a drastic change in Ukraine more than political transformations.

Vladimir Putin

ukraine political matter

I think that both Russia and other international actors, including those who are more actively engaged in the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis (that is the Federal Republic of Germany and France, the so-called Normandy Quartet, certainly, with close involvement of the United States, and we have intensified our dialogue on this issue), we should all be committed to the full and unconditional implementation of the agreements that were achieved in Minsk. The Minsk Agreements have to be implemented.

Vladimir Putin

issues agreement thinking

Addressing issues, including controversial ones, as well as domestic issues of the former Soviet Republics through the so-called coloured revolutions, through coups and unconstitutional means of toppling the current government. That is absolutely unacceptable.

Vladimir Putin

issues government mean

Ukraine is the closest country to us. We have always said that Ukraine is our sister country and it is true. It is not just a Slavic people, it is the closest people to Russia: we have similar languages, culture, common history, religion etc.

Vladimir Putin

ukraine russia country

I do not think I am entitled to assess the President of the United States. This is up to the American people.

Vladimir Putin

president people thinking

Whatever we do, all the knowledge, the experience, they stay with us, we carry them on, use them in one way or another.

Vladimir Putin

one-way use way

I will not meddle in America's internal political squabbles.

Vladimir Putin

squabbles political america

I believe a healthy lifestyle is an extremely important thing which underpins solution to numerous important problems, including the health of the nation.

Vladimir Putin

healthy important believe

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.

Vladimir Putin

russia development sports