Democracy cannot be exported to some other place. This must be a product of internal domestic development in a society.

The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history.

If the United Kingdom considers it necessary to start a dialogue on certain issues, we are ready for that, we are not going to pout or sulk. We take quite a pragmatic approach towards cooperation with our partners and we believe that it would be beneficial for both our countries.

However, the 1956 agreement refers to two islands while the Prime Minister [Shindzo Abe] is talking about four islands.

We have very close humanitarian contacts [with China], wide-ranging youth exchanges, educational and regional contacts, and all of them continue to develop.

It's better not to argue with women... When people push boundaries too far, it's not because they are strong but because they are weak. But maybe weakness is not the worst quality for a woman.

Unfortunately, the relations between the United Kingdom and Russia have not developed in the best possible way; however, it has never been our fault. It was not we who decided to discontinue relations with the United Kingdom; it was the UK who preferred to "freeze" our bilateral contacts in various fields.