Russia: Putin strongly supports linguistic and cultural pluralism in Russia

All of the different peoples within Russia should preserve their native languages, cultures and traditions, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow, Tuesday calling the effort "a matter of national importance." Speaking at a State Council meeting in the Kremlin, Putin said it is "important for harmonising inter-ethnic relations, to provide civil unity, strengthen state sovereignty and Russia's integrity." He also slammed "some countries'" approach towards said subject, stating that an offensive policy of "linguistic and cultural assimilation" leads to a disruption of society, dividing citizens into "first and second-class peoples." The Russian leader stated that such procedures sometimes even lead to "tragic internal conflicts," while he pointed to trilingual Crimea as an example of overcoming cultural and linguistic conflicts.