President al-Assad and his army are the only force that actually fights ISIS.

The stability of the rate is the main issue and the Central Bank manages to ensure it one way or another. This was finally achieved after the Central Bank switched to a floating national currency exchange rate.

We should all be aware of the fact that when revolutionary - not evolutionary - changes come, things can get even worse. The intelligentsia should be aware of this. And it is the intelligentsia specifically that should keep this in mind and prevent society from radical steps and revolutions of all kinds. We've had enough of it. We've seen so many revolutions and wars. We need decades of calm and harmonious development.

The mutual sympathy of our peoples is and will remain the foundation of our relations [with Germany].

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

Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.

We have issued financial instruments in the past, and there is a strong demand for them, it is simply unnecessary now.