Their [the U.S.โs] defense budget in absolute figures is almost 25 times bigger than Russiaโs. This is what in defense is referred to as โtheir home โ their fortress.โ And good for them, I say. Well done!
Vladimir PutinI guess I can call myself a pragmatist with a conservative perspective. It would be hard for me to explain this, but I always take realities of today, lessons from the distant and recent past into consideration.
Vladimir PutinUnder our regional cooperation projects, we are building roads and bridges. The scope of regional cooperation [with China] is constantly growing.
Vladimir PutinI'm convinced that democracy cannot be exported from one country to another, like you cannot expert revolutions, ideology.
Vladimir PutinWe have established the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union not by force, but through a compromise. It was a challenging, complicated, multi-year process based on agreement, compromise and mutually acceptable conditions in the hope of creating for our economies and for our people better competitive advantages in the world markets and in the world as a whole.
Vladimir Putin