Vladimir Putin said during his speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that the U.S. is the only superpower. According to the Russian leader, Moscow accepts this
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Reuters/Pixstream)
"America is a great power. Today, probably the only superpower. We accept that. We are willing and ready to work with the United States," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a plenary session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) (quoted by Interfax).
According to the president, both Russia and the whole world "needs such a powerful country," noting that Russia does not need "them constantly interfering in our affairs, telling us how to live and preventing Europe from building relations with us.
Responding to moderator Farid Zakaria's question about U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, Putin gave him a less positive assessment than he did last December, when he called Trump "a bright, talented man, the absolute leader of the presidential race."
The president said he only described Trump as "bright." "I said Trump is a bright man. Isn't he bright? No other characterization I gave him. Trump said he was ready for a full-fledged restoration of U.S.-Russia relations, what's wrong with that?" - Putin said to applause from the audience. He noted that Russia is ready to work with any U.S. president.
Speaking about Russia-U.S.-Europe relations, anti-Russian sanctions and retaliatory measures, Putin said the restrictive measures "do not concern the United States in any way" and only affect European countries.
"The sanctions - do they concern the United States? They don't concern the United States. They don't care about these sanctions. The consequences of our retaliatory actions have no effect on them. They do affect Europe, but they have no effect on the United States. The effect is zero. But the Americans say to their partners [the Europeans]: Be patient. Why do they put up with it? But if they want, let them tolerate it," Putin said.
Earlier, at a plenary session at SPIEF, Putin said that Russia was ready to meet Europe halfway, but it should not be a "one-way game. The Russian leader said that Russia did not initiate the disagreement with the West and that all of Moscow's actions were purely reciprocal
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