Alwaght- Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States must abandon its “imperial ambitions'' and treat Russia as an equal partner.
Speaking on Thursday during a marathon call-in TV show, Putin said Washington must learn to respect Russia's legitimate interests and cooperate with Moscow as an equal. Russia-US ties have been strained over the Ukrainian crisis, differences over Syria and other issues.
While noting that the two countries have been able to cooperate constructively on non-proliferation issues, terrorism, and the Iranian nuclear deal, he warned the U.S. against “speaking from the position of force, diktat and imperial ambitions.” If the U.S. treats Russia with respect, he added.
On the leaked Panama Papers, Putin said they were part of a Western plot to smear Russia. "We know that members of the American intelligence community are involved," Putin said. He added that the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which first obtained the leaked records from an anonymous source, belonged to the US bank Goldman Sachs. The Russian President denied any wrongdoing, saying the leaked documents "have not specifically accused anyone of anything. They've just said, 'someone there did something,' implying officials, including the president."
Asked about Russia’s strained ties with Turkey, Ukraine and some other nations, Putin said Russia was ready for friendly ties with all nations but would retaliate against any hostile moves. “We must respond, or otherwise they will sit on our neck and whip us up,” Putin said.
The Russian president noted that Turkey is doing more to collaborate with terrorists and extremists than it is doing to combat them. He mentioned that he did not think that Turkey was safe for Russian holidaymakers, though said he had no problem with the Turkish people. "We have problems with a few politicians whose behavior we consider inadequate."
Putin called the Kurds “courageous” and “selfless” people who have shown great strength in trying to combat terrorists. “The Kurds fight incredibly selflessly and don’t think about themselves,” he said, adding that they are an important force in the fight against terrorism in the West Asia region and in particular in Syria. Putin said the Syrian army is strong enough to carry out large-scale military operations against Takfiri terrorists even after the partial pullout of Moscow’s air force.
He highlighted the recent victories of Syrian forces on the battlefield against the terror groups and said they managed to liberate the ancient city of Palmyra from the ISIS terrorists after Moscow withdraw some of its warplanes from the Arab state.
“The Syrian army, which is also fighting for Aleppo, does not need Russian help, Putin, adding that the Syrian troops do “not need to improve its position…They do not need to improve anything.”
The Russia leader said, however, that the situation in Aleppo Province was complicated as terrorists with al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and other terrorists are positioned close together.
“It is hard to tell them apart. They are behaving differently and are trying to improve their position, trying to regain what is lost,” the Russian president said.
The Russian president further called on different Syrian groups to must sit down for political talks and adopt a new constitution for their country.
He said Moscow is doing everything to ensure the situation in Syria does not deteriorate, adding a political process rather than military operations will help achieve reconciliation.
“We very much hope that a political process, not the use of armed forces by both sides with support from whosoever, including our support, will lead to reconciliation,” he said.
“It is necessary to accept, reach an agreement, sit down at the negotiating table, adopt a constitution, hold early elections on the basis of the constitution and in such a way come out of the crisis," Putin added.
On sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries, Putin said that despite Russia by and large upholding their end of the Minsk agreement, he does not believe the West will look to end sanctions. “I don’t think our partners will lift their sanctions or restrictions they placed on Russia any time soon,” he said.
In the 3½-hour Q&A session, Putin took questions from citizens on a variety of topics.
