Challenging American leadership is not at stake.

However, personally, I see this as not having the right to abuse this trust [among the citizens of Russia and Japan], and any decision we reach should correspond to the national interests of the Russian Federation.

I'm convinced that a person in my position must provide a positive example to people.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.

Britain is leaving and has de facto left the European Union; however, it has not withdrawn from its special relationship with the United States and I believe that the UK's relations with Russia depend on Britain's special relationship with the United States rather than on its presence in or absence from the European Union.

The European Union's enlargement is part of the natural process of integration and globalisation that is underway in the world today.

If European countries want to cater to U.S. foreign policy interests, I don't think that they stand to gain anything.