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.

Presidents come and go, and even parties come to and away from power. But the main policy tack does not change.

The Crimea is not a disputed territory. Unlike the case of Georgia and South Ossetia, there has been no ethnic conflict there.

The Chancellor [Angela Merkel] and the European partners would be well-advised to address the problems in eastern Ukraine more thoroughly. Maybe they have too many domestic problems of their own at the moment.

We believe that we could do a great deal to neutralise regional conflicts. Also, for example, to continue joint activities in space, for peaceful civilian purposes.

I'm not really saddened that [Pussy Riot] ended up in jail, though there is nothing good in that. What saddens me is that they took things to such a level, here, from my point of view, that they degraded the dignity of women.

NATO and the USA wanted a complete victory over the Soviet Union. They wanted to sit on the throne in Europe alone.