I'm eternally grateful to fate and the citizens of Russia that they've trusted me to be the head of the Russian government.
Vladimir PutinWe would like to see science and higher education developing here [on the Russian Far East], so that it could become one of the major research centres in the entire APR system. Undoubtedly a lot remains to be done here, but given the labour market demand, the relevance of such a university is undeniable.
Vladimir PutinWe have very close humanitarian contacts [with China], wide-ranging youth exchanges, educational and regional contacts, and all of them continue to develop.
Vladimir PutinThey say that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a homosexual. Truth be told, we don't love him because of that, but he was a great musician, and we all love his music. So what? I assure you that I work with these people. I sometimes award them with state prizes or decorations for their achievements in various fields. We have absolutely normal relations, and I don't see anything out of the ordinary here.
Vladimir PutinThe constitutional reform is supposed to give autonomy to eastern Ukraine and to be adopted by the end of 2015. This has not happened, and the year is over. That's not Russia's fault.
Vladimir PutinAfter all, despite the scandalous behavior of one and, by the way, the other candidate [they are both , Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, scandalous in their own ways], they are smart, they are really smart and they are aware of the leverages they should use to make the voters in the United States understand them, feel them and hear them.
Vladimir Putin