Translated material
Charters to Hurghada and paradise for Russians after a nuclear war: Putin’s main statements at Valdai
The attack in Kerch is due to the lack of useful content for young people on the Internet, charters to Egyptian resorts will soon be launched, and the Russians are guaranteed to go to paradise in the event of a nuclear war. Vladimir Putin spoke about this on Thursday at the annual meeting within the framework of the Valdai Club, which was invented to form the correct image of Russia abroad. For those who do not have the opportunity to watch all two and a half hours of the president's speech , we have collected the main quotes.
About the attack in Kerch
“This [the attack in Kerch] is also, apparently, the result of globalization, oddly enough. In social networks, on the Internet, we see that entire communities have been created. It all started with the well-known tragic events in the United States, in the schools of the United States. Young people with an unstable psyche create some kind of false heroes for themselves. This means that all of us, taken together, not only in Russia, but in the world as a whole, react badly to changing conditions in the world. This means that we do not create the necessary, interesting and useful content for young people, and they grab this surrogate of heroism. This leads to tragedies of this kind.”
About the capture of 700 hostages in Syria
“We have liberated [from terrorists] 95% of the entire territory of Syria. But we see what is happening on the West Bank of the Euphrates. Our American partners are working there <...> they have clearly not finished their work, there are representatives of ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia. - The Bell) in several settlements, who have begun to expand their zone of presence. They took about 700 hostages. They put forward ultimatums, definite demands, and warned that if these ultimatums were not carried out, they would shoot 10 people every day. The day before yesterday, 10 people were shot.”
Meeting with Donald Trump
“Despite the attempt to discredit these meetings, they were more positive than negative <...> It is better to communicate and contact with each other than to dog and swear without ceasing. We have normal relations with him [Trump], professional dialogue, he hears and reacts to the arguments of the interlocutor.”
Why is not afraid of any conflicts
“We are not afraid of any conflicts. We are not afraid of anything at all. A country with such a territory, with such a defense system, with such a population, ready to defend its independence. Not in all countries there is such a predisposition of citizens to give their lives for the fatherland. Nobody can do anything about it."
Why Russians will go to heaven with a nuclear strike
“We live in a world whose security is based on nuclear potential. Russia is one of the largest nuclear powers <...> so far no one has high-precision hypersonic weapons, we have overtaken everyone in this area. Are we ready to use nuclear weapons to protect ourselves? There is no pre-emptive strike in our concept of nuclear weapons. Our concept is a response to a counter strike. This means that we will use nuclear weapons only when we are sure that a potential aggressor is striking at Russia. Of course, this is a disaster, but we cannot be the initiators. The aggressor must know that retribution is inevitable, that he will be destroyed anyway. And we are the victims of aggression. And we, as martyrs, will go to heaven. And they just die. Because they don’t even have time to repent.”
About the murdered journalist from Saudi Arabia
“The journalist, after all, lived in the United States of America. And in this sense, the United States bears some responsibility for what happened to him. We must wait for the results of the investigation. How can we, Russia, start damaging relations with Saudi Arabia without knowing what happened? As far as I know, this person was a member of the Saudi elite, was associated with the ruling circles. What really happened there, we don't know. I hope that evidence [of the murder] will be presented. We will make decisions based on this. Steps and sanctions are being taken against Russia for far-fetched reasons without any evidence. For example, the alleged use of chemical weapons by us, although we destroyed them, but the United States, by the way, did not.
About tourist charters to Egypt
“We have very friendly relations with Egypt. We have resumed flights between Moscow and Cairo. On the agenda is the opening of charters to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada. In the near future, these routes may be opened, but we need to work a little more.”
About de-dollarization
“I'm not the only one talking about this [de-dollarization]. The French President recently said that Europe must increase its economic and financial sovereignty. This means moving away from the dollar. I recently said that our American friends cut the branch they sit on. They question the reliability of the dollar as a universal instrument in international settlements. This is a typical mistake of the empire. Because the empire thinks that it can make some mistakes, because its power is such that it does not mean anything. But there comes a time when it is no longer possible to cope with so many mistakes. Americans are undermining confidence in the dollar. And, of course, everyone started thinking.”
About pension reform
“Sometimes it is a little better, sometimes a little worse, but the level of income of the population [since the nineties] has changed dramatically for the better. Yes, we have many people living below the poverty line. But in the early 2000s, it was 39% of people. Now the government is taking a number of forced painful measures related to changing the retirement age. Who will like it? I perfectly understand the dissatisfied. But the phenomenon of Russia is that we have smart people. A normal person understands that the state is forced to do this.”
On assassination attempts on the leaders of Donbass
“I think that the organization of terrorist acts by the special services of Ukraine, the murders of people who are chosen by the population to lead these regions, is the worst way to improve relations with these territories. The best one is to implement the Minsk agreements.”
On the rise of tension in the world
“There is an old joke. With beard. Question: how do you relax? Answer: I don't stress. The same goes for tensions in international affairs. We don't pressure anyone. We don't create any problems. It’s us who are always accused of something, and with a high degree of probability, as they say, we did this and that, interfered there, did something wrong. At the same time, no one considers it necessary to present any evidence. This is the result of internal political struggle in the Western world. Political crises [in the US] need to be resolved. Will it happen after the congressional elections? I don't know, but maybe. Or it will happen in the twentieth year, when the US presidential elections are held. Then he will not need to look back at those who speculate on anti-Russian rhetoric.”
Putin's answer to the question: "Do you want any changes?"
“I want us to end the discussion already. Because I need to fly to Uzbekistan, and I also wanted to play hockey on the way.”
Artem Gubenko