The issues of political nature should be solved in any country, including in Syria, primarily by its people.

Frankly speaking, I could never even imagine that such information would be of interest to the American public or that the campaign headquarters of one of the candidates - in this case, Mrs. [Hillary] Clinton - apparently worked for her, rather than for all the Democratic Party candidates in an equal manner. I could never assume that anybody would find it interesting.

Russia should be an effective and competitive state with a sustainable economy, developed social and political system flexible to changes domestically and globally.

I was brought up in a very ordinary family, in fact, a worker's family. Both my father and mother were ordinary citizens.

I'm asking : if the Kosovars have the right to self-determination, why should people on Crimea not have it? I would say: everyone should comply with uniform international rules and not want to change them any time one feels like it.

Then there is another area of activity - economic interaction between Russia and the United States. Right now, for example, it has already been made public that we signed a large deal to privatise one of our biggest oil and gas companies, Rosneft. We know for sure that US companies, as well as Japanese ones, by the way, are keenly interested in cooperation in Russia's oil and gas sector, in joint work. This has immense significance for world energy markets and will directly affect the whole world economy.

Of course Germany's media are heavily influenced by the country on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.