MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st December, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual press conference on Thursday he was hoping that, despite growing international tensions and fractures in the global arms control system, humankind would have a strong enough self-preservation instinct to avoid extremes, such as nuclear war.
The focus of the conference, which lasted nearly four hours, was mainly on domestic politics, but the president received questions on foreign affairs as well. Putin spoke about arms control, sanctions against Russia, Brexit, protests in France, Afghanistan, Syria, and Japan.
The president pointed out that Russia had adapted to Western sanctions and, despite some negative consequences, even profited from them.
"There are negative consequences but there is also an upside to this sanctions issue. It has forced us to turn on our brains in many areas. Western experts see it too," Putin said.
The president added that sanctions against Russia were linked to its growing ability to compete that certain countries did not want to take into account.
At the same time, Putin pointed to the illogical application of restrictions by Western countries, comparing the cases of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and poisoned ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal.
"Khashoggi was obviously killed � everyone agrees with that � and Skripal is alive, thank god. Nevertheless, sanctions have been piled on Russia, while nothing was done in the former case, total silence. It is a politically-motivated Russophobe approach. It [Skripal affair] was only a pretext for another attack on Russia ... The goal is to contain Russia as a potential competitor," Putin said.
Regarding Russia's response to sanctions, Putin stressed that Moscow was protecting Russian citizens, and doing it without extremes, "without any rudeness, calmly, with reserve."
When asked whether Russia was ready for new sanctions, Putin said that Russia saw both positive and negative sides of this, but the global economy was mainly suffering.
"In any case, we would like the global economy to develop without any shocks, any illegal influence, any external restrictions," Putin said.
UK-RUSSIAN RELATIONS AMID BREXIT
The Russian president said that Moscow was interested in restoring full-scale relations with London, adding that the United Kingdom, especially its businesses, was also interested in that.
"In my opinion, the Russian-UK relations are at an impasse, breaking the deadlock is in the interests of both countries," Putin said.
The president added that he had met UK Prime Minister Theresa May at the recent G20 summit, but they only "said hello to each other, exchanged a few words."
Putin admitted that the whole world, including Russia, would be affected by the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.
"It will affect the entire European economy, the global economy ... In this sense, it will indirectly affect us as well," Putin said.
At the same time, Brexit is not Russia's business, Putin said.
"Let them decide by themselves, this is not our affair. Or they will accuse us of something again," Putin said.
The UK-Russian relations have lately been marred by London's accusations regarding the Skripal case. London has accused Russia of an attempt to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal residing in the United Kingdom. Moscow has strongly refuted these allegations.
Putin spoke about the difference in policy on gasoline prices between Russia and France, when asked about the recent Yellow Vest protests, which began over planned fuel price increase.
"What is the difference between our situation and the situation in France linked to gasoline, oil products and so on? The French government deliberately wanted to raise price for oil products and for gasoline, that is, they did it themselves. This is their policy ... What is happening in Russia? Gasoline prices have risen since the beginning of the last year due to the oil price increase in global markets. But the government immediately began taking measures to contain the increase of prices and even to lower them. We have reached agreement with key oil and refining companies," Putin said at an annual press conference.
Putin said that the French authorities took this step to "reallocate resources, in this case, the resources of the citizens, to solve other issues lined to energy policy." Paris intended to "send the money they would receive from the sales of gasoline and diesel, fuel to the development of alternative energy types, sun, wind, and so on," Putin said.
"People did not like this. They don't like such changes to energy policy at their expense," the president said.
Putin expressed hope that the Russian government would not allow any sudden and significant changes to gasoline and other oil products prices in Russia in 2019.
The president added that the fuel price hike in France was only "a trigger for the general dissatisfaction of a large part of the society to then spill out."
The protests, ongoing since mid-November, turned violent, resulting in property vandalism and even several fatalities.
"Citizens's rights to express their opinion, their position should definitely be ensured, including via public events, but all these events, including public ones, should always remain within law. Anything that is beyond law is unacceptable and there has to be appropriate reaction to this on part of the government," the president said, when asked about the state's role in such situations in general.
Putin commented on the UN resolution on Afghanistan, which Russia opposed earlier in December, saying it was unclear what the Western countries wanted to achieve with it.
"If they wanted to say that everything is good there [in Afghanistan], I think this is far from reality," Putin said.
The president stressed that Russia was in favor of settlement in Afghanistan, torn apart by the conflict between the government and the Taliban movement, exacerbated by the presence of terrorist groups in the country.
"We believe that it can only be achieved, exclusively, through the agreement between all parties to the political process in Afghanistan itself ... We assume that the people of Afghanistan will be able to reach internal agreement; all political forces, ethnic groups will be able to reach consensus. We will facilitate this process as much as we can," the president said.
The president added that US talks with the Taliban movement were likely inevitable, but they had to be conducted openly.
"It is important to understand what the talks are about and what they will lead to. If there is an actual force that controls a significant part of territory, it has to be taken into account. But then it should be done openly, publicly," Putin said.
The Russian president emphasized that security issues were crucial to the talks on Russian-Japanese peace treaty.
"The security issues are very important including while signing a peace treaty ... We do not understand the level of Japan's sovereignty while making such decisions. You, as well as I, are very well aware that the Okinawa governor is against some decisions related to the strengthening of this [US] base and its expansion, he is against it, but cannot do anything about it. As well as people who live there, who are against too ... All polls show it, people take to the streets, demanding the closure of this base," the president said.
The president added that, while understanding all security implications linked to the US military infrastructure in Japan, Russia was still interested in the peace treaty.
"While we understand it all, we nevertheless still strive and will continue to strive, sincerely, to sign a peace treaty with Japan because I am convinced, and [Japanese] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe is also convinced that the current situation is not normal. Both Japan and Russia are interested in the full settlement in our relations," Putin said.
Putin said he generally agreed with his US counterpart Donald Trump that the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) was defeated in Syria, but pointed to the danger of terrorists moving to neighboring regions.
Trump announced on Wednesday that the IS terrorist group had been defeated in Syria, adding that this was the only reason for the United States to have been present in the middle Eastern country during his presidency. The White House confirmed this information, adding that this was a move toward a new phase of the counterterrorism campaign.
"As for the victory over the IS, in general, I agree with the US president. I have also said it, we have achieved significant changes in the fight on terror on that territory, and we dealt serious blows to the IS in Syria. There is a danger of these groups and those similar to them relocating to the neighboring regions, to Afghanistan, and other countries ... They [foreign fighters] are coming back to where they came from. This is a big danger for all of us," Putin said at the annual press conference.
Regarding the US troops' withdrawal from Syria, Putin pointed to the example of Afghanistan.
"As for the US troops' withdrawal from Syria, I don't know what it means. The United States has been present in, let's say, Afghanistan for 17 years, and almost every year, they say they are pulling out their troops. They are still there," Putin said.
The president added that there were no signs of US troops withdrawing yet, but conceded that it was "possible."
"Despite all differences, there has been a constructive dialogue going on between our military experts, special services and foreign ministries on how to resolve pressing issues in the fight against terrorism in Syria. We are generally satisfied with how our joint work is going on," the president said.
The president expressed hope that the Syrian constitutional committee would be formed either by the end of the year or early next year. Syrian President Bashar Assad approved the list with suggestions for members of the committee, although he did not like some of the proposals, Putin said.
Putin said he was ready for a possible meeting with Trump as there were issues the two of them could discuss.
"We need to discuss the problem of North Korea, the situation in Afghanistan and many other issues. Finally, we need to discuss our bilateral relations. We are interested in this, as well as our US partners," Putin said.
Putin expressed hope for the improvement of the Russia-US relations in the future.
"In the end we will reach the bottom of our relationship, and we will understand that we need to rise, we need to push off from this bottom, rise, take a breath of fresh air and think clearly how to live further," the president stressed.
Trade, Putin said, was already practically at a zero between the two countries.
Putin noted that he does not know whether Trump would be able to start the direct dialogue with Russia after Democrats won majority in the House of representatives.
"We see what is happening there. Now the leadership in the Congress will change. We can forecast with nearly 100-percent accuracy that there will be new attacks on the incumbent president. I do not know whether he will be able to start a direct dialogue with Russia in these conditions. You should ask them," Putin said.
The president spoke of global threats, such as the potential for a nuclear disaster, which is being underestimated, and the breakup of the arms control system.
"In fact, what we are seeing is the breakup of the international system of control over weapons, over arms race," Putin said at a press conference.
Russia has gained some advantage due to its new weapons, but it is simply maintaining parity, the president said.
"We have a certain advantage, but, in terms of strategic balance, this is about restraining, about the parity. This is about maintaining parity, nothing more," the president said.
Putin stressed that Russia was not seeking world dominance.
"As to ruling the world, we know where the headquarters of this operation is, and it is not Moscow," Putin said, when asked whether he wanted to rule the world.
NATO is using the alleged Russian threat to divert attention from other issues, the president said.
"It is a cliche that is being forced on the Western public in order to solve internal political and intra-union problems. The latter means that NATO, for instance, needs an outside threat to rally Western nations around it... They need to unite against someone," he told reporters.
At the same time, Putin pointed to the diminishing fear of nuclear war that was ever so present during the US-Soviet tensions decades ago.
"The danger of such a development of events [as a nuclear catastrophe] has been somewhat blurred, is going away. It seems impossible or to be something not so important. Meanwhile, if something like it occurs, god forbid, it can lead to the death of the whole civilization and, maybe, our planet. It is therefore a serious issue. So it is unfortunate that such a tendency has been in place and even gaining momentum," the president.
He, however, believes that "the humankind will have enough common sense and self-preservation not to drive the situation to extremes."
