Tweet
ITAR-TASS, Russia
December 18, 2014 Thursday 06:45 PM GMT+4
Russian partners should build security space, not walls - Putin
MOSCOW December 18.
. The West should build a security space, not walls, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said at an annual news conference on Thursday
The key problem of international relations is the continuing
construction by the West of walls and dividing lines, and Russia has
to toughly defend its national security. Putin mentioned the issue at
the news conference.
The president called NATO's advance to the East and deployment in
Europe of a US missile defense system a new "wall".
"Our partners have not stopped, they decided that they are the
winners, the empire, and all [the rest] are vassals and they need to
be squeezed. That's the problem - despite all our attempts and
gestures to work without any dividing lines in Europe and the world in
general," he stressed.
The head of state said "the tough attitude" Russia took on crisis
situations, including on Ukraine, "should let partners know that the
most right way is to stop building walls and to build a common
security space."
Speaking on relations between the Russian Federation and China, Putin
said the two countries have many coinciding interests, "including
stabilization of the situation on the international arena." Moscow and
Beijing, he recalled, "closely cooperate in the UN, the Security
Council, and the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the sphere is one of
the most important elements stabilizing the current global situation."
The Russian president underlined that the high-profile 30-year gas
contract with China signed in May is not lossmaking, and added that
without it, it is impossible to provide the Far East and Siberia with
gas infrastructure. "This [contract] is profitable. I don't even speak
about the fact that it is a huge construction site, jobs, revenues for
all levels of the tax system," he said.
Putin noted the increased role of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), which went beyond the framework of the original
limits and tasks because it is an organization in demand. He recalled
that currently interest in cooperation in the SCO framework is
displayed by Iran, Pakistan, India and a number of other countries who
are observers with the organization.
The SCO's current members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and
Afghanistan have been granted the observer status. In September,
Pakistan and India filed official requests to join the SCO. Iran is
also seeking full-fledged membership of the organization.
Sri Lanka and Armenia have filed requests for the observer status.
Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey have the status of SCO "dialogue
partners."
Regarding Iran, the Russian president expressed the viewpoint that
Tehran demonstrates a great flexibility in the work on the resolution
of the country's nuclear program. "I don't quite understand why a
final decision has not been signed yet, but I hope it will happen
soon," he said.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western
powers led by the United States claim Iran's eventual aim is to create
nuclear weapons and have pressured Tehran to give up its nuclear
program.
The P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the
United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France plus
Germany) and Tehran have agreed to extend the deadline for an
agreement in the talks on Iran's nuclear program to June 30.
December 18, 2014 Thursday 06:45 PM GMT+4
Russian partners should build security space, not walls - Putin
MOSCOW December 18.
. The West should build a security space, not walls, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said at an annual news conference on Thursday
The key problem of international relations is the continuing
construction by the West of walls and dividing lines, and Russia has
to toughly defend its national security. Putin mentioned the issue at
the news conference.
The president called NATO's advance to the East and deployment in
Europe of a US missile defense system a new "wall".
"Our partners have not stopped, they decided that they are the
winners, the empire, and all [the rest] are vassals and they need to
be squeezed. That's the problem - despite all our attempts and
gestures to work without any dividing lines in Europe and the world in
general," he stressed.
The head of state said "the tough attitude" Russia took on crisis
situations, including on Ukraine, "should let partners know that the
most right way is to stop building walls and to build a common
security space."
Speaking on relations between the Russian Federation and China, Putin
said the two countries have many coinciding interests, "including
stabilization of the situation on the international arena." Moscow and
Beijing, he recalled, "closely cooperate in the UN, the Security
Council, and the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the sphere is one of
the most important elements stabilizing the current global situation."
The Russian president underlined that the high-profile 30-year gas
contract with China signed in May is not lossmaking, and added that
without it, it is impossible to provide the Far East and Siberia with
gas infrastructure. "This [contract] is profitable. I don't even speak
about the fact that it is a huge construction site, jobs, revenues for
all levels of the tax system," he said.
Putin noted the increased role of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO), which went beyond the framework of the original
limits and tasks because it is an organization in demand. He recalled
that currently interest in cooperation in the SCO framework is
displayed by Iran, Pakistan, India and a number of other countries who
are observers with the organization.
The SCO's current members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and
Afghanistan have been granted the observer status. In September,
Pakistan and India filed official requests to join the SCO. Iran is
also seeking full-fledged membership of the organization.
Sri Lanka and Armenia have filed requests for the observer status.
Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey have the status of SCO "dialogue
partners."
Regarding Iran, the Russian president expressed the viewpoint that
Tehran demonstrates a great flexibility in the work on the resolution
of the country's nuclear program. "I don't quite understand why a
final decision has not been signed yet, but I hope it will happen
soon," he said.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western
powers led by the United States claim Iran's eventual aim is to create
nuclear weapons and have pressured Tehran to give up its nuclear
program.
The P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the
United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France plus
Germany) and Tehran have agreed to extend the deadline for an
agreement in the talks on Iran's nuclear program to June 30.