The Russian people chose democracy at the beginning of the 1990s and this was their final choice.

Under the international agreements, the Russian peacekeepers are committed to protect the population of South Ossetia.

My personal position is that society must keep children safe.

It is well known, widely known that the US President-elect [Donald Trump] has publicly spoken in favour of normalising Russian-American relations. We cannot but support this. Of course, we understand that it will not be an easy job, taking into account the degree to which Russian-American relations have degraded. But we are ready to cover our part of the way.

I will not meddle in America's internal political squabbles.

If someone wants to open this Pandora's box and deal with it, all right, go for it then.

The US wants to subdue Russia, to solve US problems at Russia's expense. No one in history ever managed to do this to Russia, and no one ever will.