Russian culture is multifaceted and diverse. So if you want to understand, to feel Russia, then of course you need to read books, Tolstoy and Chekhov and Gogol and others. Listen to music. Tchaikovsky. Watch our classical ballet. But the most important thing is that you need to talk with people.

Protest actions and propaganda are two slightly different things.

Prime Minister [Shinzō Abe] and I have spoken a lot, and we said all the right things, in my opinion, about creating an atmosphere of trust and friendship between our nations and peoples.

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

The people who lost the elections do not want to admit that they really lost, that the one who won was closer to the people and better understood what ordinary voters want. They are absolutely reluctant to admit this, and prefer deluding themselves and others into thinking it was not their fault, that their policy was correct, they did all the right things, but someone from the outside thwarted them. But it was not so. They just lost and they have to admit it.

We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the society as a whole.

I simply noted that one of the groups, especially exporters, would prefer to have a weaker rouble.