We are not going to waste our reserves and burn them for any political ambitions. We will act very carefully.

I have never changed. I feel as young as I always did and remain close friends with Gerhard Schröder.

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.

If we had joined efforts some time ago [with U.S], we could have avoided many problems the world is facing now, I believe.

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.

President Obama hasn't been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia.

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.