The political elite in Russia don't want domestic reform, they aren't ready for it. As such, they welcome an external threat. You have to remember that Russia rests on two national concepts: defense and sovereignty. We approach the question of security much more reverentially than other countries do.

The German chancellor said that our president lives in a different world. I believe he lives in a very real world.

In a crisis, we will destroy exactly the weapons. Russia will never again fight on its own territory .

It scares me when the Europeans demand more and more democracy. It sounds like times past, when people here demanded more and more socialism.

Russians aren't good at haggling, they aren't passionate about business. But they are outstanding fighters.

Russian politics was focused for too long on fixing past mistakes - fixing the mistakes made in the 1990s.

The political elite in Russia don't want domestic reform, they aren't ready for it. As such, they welcome an external threat. You have to remember that Russia rests on two national concepts: defense and sovereignty. We approach the question of security much more reverentially than other countries do.