Russia: Putin discusses state of US-Russian relations

*MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE* *GRAPHICS AT SOURCE* *MUSIC AT SOURCE*
M/S Russian President Vladimir Putin being interviewed by TASS journalist Andrei Vandenko
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): "So you address Trump as ‘Donald’, in a friendly way.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “He calls me Vladimir, I call him Donald.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “I mean, you have worked with four American presidents. Once Bush saw something in your eyes...”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Yes...”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “But things did not go well with Obama, is that correct?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Well...”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Who was it that you felt most at ease with?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Now it is difficult to say. Indeed, I had fairly constructive relationships with each of them.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “However, you did not get along with Obama.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “In any case, I had good relations with Bush.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Did somebody put you at odds with him?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Hm?”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Did somebody put you at odds with him?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “No, it has nothing to do with ‘being at odds’. It's just that, when a person says that...”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Do you mean Barack?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian) : ”Hm?”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Do you mean Barack?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Yes. When he said that the US is an exceptional nation, with special, exclusive rights in the world, I cannot agree. God created us all equal and gave us equal rights. So, I think it is absolutely ungrounded to say that some people should have exclusive rights to anything.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “On a scale from one to five, not to make it too complicated, how would you rate Russia’s current relationship with the US?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “I would give it a three.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “A three? Not bad.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Between a two and a three. More like a three though. Look...”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “And how about earlier?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Look, we do cooperate on counter-terrorism. It was actually I who called Trump to thank the US for giving us the information.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “You mean on the St. Petersburg cell?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Yes. They had been looking into them for a long time. And after that, the FBI provided this information to the Federal Security Service.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Does it mean that the Americans are working better than us on our own soil?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “They work... I am not going to talk about it now, because this information is classified. They work globally.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “I'm not going to tell anybody.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “I'll whisper in your ear afterwards.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Deal.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “They work globally, and so do we.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Right.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “But they were the ones who tracked this case down. That time, we did not. Our services track down a lot of them, thus preventing dozens of terrorist attacks, they catch and intercept them. Several dozen a year. That specific case was detected by the US. I would like to thank them a lot for sharing that information with us.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “So it’s a three now, but what was the peak rate?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Well, okay... Trade turnover used to be higher, it dropped to 20 from 28, still very low. But in the last two years, under Trump, trade turnover started to grow. In the area of security, a while ago we concluded an agreement with Obama, the New START Treaty was also signed when he was in office. However, it has not been extended yet. So this raises a question. The US keeps imposing sanctions on Russia. Another question. Take Nord Stream 2, they imposed sanctions on it as well. The US has always been against the development of our economic relations with Europe, even in the 1960s, when we started the construction of, if you remember, the gas-for-pipes deal. Thank God, now we produce large-diameter pipes ourselves, which is, by the way, another recent achievement of our white metallurgy and other sectors. 75 percent, and it is crucial, 75 percent of facilities in our manufacturing sector, as well as machinery and equipment, have been produced in recent years, in the last 10 to 15 years. This is quite an achievement. They have always been against it. Against Nord Stream 1 – they did oppose it, now they oppose Nord Stream 2 in the same manner. So why did they do it, what for? They wanted to ensure transit through Ukraine. It’s rather strange, isn’t it? So they are wooing Ukraine and have established external control over it, but they want Ukraine to be sustained by our money as well. They don’t want to give Ukraine money themselves. They want Ukraine to receive something from us through transit fees. Okay, we agree, because we, too, will be interested in the growth in gas consumption in Europe in general and in Ukraine in particular, we will continue the transfer of gas, even if the volume is lower. However, the main motivation, the excuse for imposing sanctions against Nord Stream 2 was the need to ensure transit through Ukraine. But we have signed a transit agreement with Ukraine. What is needed now? They need to lift sanctions against Nord Stream. There are no grounds for imposing them. And if the sanctions remain, it will mean that there is only one motive – to ensure competitive advantages for their LNG, for their liquefied gas.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “The strongest player sets the rules.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “They are securing a market for their products, exclusively in their own selfish interests and at the expense of European consumers. But if the price of a fossil fuel rises by 25 to 30 per cent, the competitiveness of the German economy, as well as the European one, will be undermined.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “But in fact, in geopolitical terms, Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok does not exist anymore.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “But it never existed. ‘Anymore!’ You’re talking about something which never existed, as if it is something we lost. Back in the day, de Gaulle spoke about a Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals. Then I extended that idea a little, and started saying: why to the Urals, why not to the Pacific, to the Far East? I think it should be the goal.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Was your Munich speech an overreaction?”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “No. Now they repeat everything I said. For example, the German leaders. They almost repeat it word for word… They were mad at me at the time, angry with me, they said, why did you do that?”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “They took offense.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “No. Got angry because, well, it was quite rude, at the wrong time; ‘why would you do that’. And what did I say? I said that it is inadmissible that one country, the United States, extends its jurisdiction beyond its national borders. Today, say, the German leadership says exactly that, that it is inadmissible that the United States imposes secondary sanctions, i.e. on companies, that have no relation to the United States, trying to prevent them from pursuing their national interests.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): ”Not only distant, but also our close neighbours started to distance themselves from us in a way.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Well, I don't see that. Who exactly started to distance themselves?”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “Take Georgia, for instance.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): ”They didn’t just distance themselves – they jumped aside. Through no fault of ours. They should thank Mikhail Nikolayevich [Saakashvili] for that.”
Andrey Vandenko (Russian): “But he hasn't been around for a long time.”
Vladimir Putin (Russian): “Not at all! He is running around, from square to square, on rooftops, like a tomcat. We had a lot of discussions with him on the subject when he was still in office. I think that Mikhail Nikolayevich would recall that. I told him: "Listen, don't you ever try to deal with South Ossetia and Abkhazia with the use of force.’ ‘No, no, I'll never do that,’ he said. And he still stormed in, stormed in and got knocked back!”
SCRIPT
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed US-Russian relations, and praised counter-terrorism cooperation between the two countries, as part of the interview series “20 Questions with Vladimir Putin,” released by the TASS news agency on Wednesday.
Commenting on US help with detaining two followers of the terrorist group ISIS in Saint Petersburg back in 2019, the Russian leader said “I would like to thank them a lot for sharing that information with us.”
After being asked if US intelligence works better than their Russian counterpart, Putin answered that “They work globally, just like we do,” adding that “our services track down a lot of them, thus preventing dozens of terrorist attacks, they catch and intercept them. Several dozen a year. That specific case was detected by the US.”
Putin also recalled his relations with former American President Barack Obama, adding “when he said that the US is an exceptional nation, with special, exclusive rights in the world, I cannot agree. God created us all equal and gave us equal rights. So, I think it is absolutely ungrounded to say that some people should have exclusive rights to anything.”
Meanwhile, the Russian leader rated the current relations between the two countries, “between a two and a three” on a scale from one to five.
Discussing US objections to the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline, the Russian President noted that the excuse for imposing sanctions was to ensure transit through Ukraine, but after a transit agreement was signed between Moscow and Kiev, the sanctions are groundless, saying “if the sanctions remain, it will mean that there is only one motive – to ensure competitive advantages for their LNG, for their liquefied gas.”
On the worsening of relations between Russia and Georgia, the Russian leader condemned the actions of former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili back in 2008, adding “I think that Mikhail Nikolayevich would recall that. I told him: ‘Listen, don't you ever try to deal with South Ossetia and Abkhazia with the use of force.’ ‘No, no, I'll never do that,’ he said. And he still stormed in, stormed in and got knocked back!”
Mandatory courtesy to: TASS