Vladimir
Putin answered questions from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace
in an interview recorded in Helsinki, Finland,
on July 16.
July 17, 2018
02:00
Helsinki
1 of 4
Interview
with FOX News Channel.
Fox News
Sunday host Chris Wallace: President Putin, thank you for speaking
with us.
I am
going to get to some specifics about the summit
in a moment, but let’s begin with the big picture. President
Trump said in his news conference that our relationship has never been
worse, but that changed a few hours ago. How has the relationship,
big picture, between the US and Russia changed today?
President
of Russia Vladimir Putin: You know, we should be grateful primarily
to our aides, our staff who have been interacting with each other not only
recently to prepare this meeting, but for months before that.
I am
referring to the work of our agencies in the spheres
of special concern for the United States and Russia,
primarily counterterrorism.
President
Trump and I pointed out today that terrorism is a bigger threat
than it may seem at first glance. If the worse comes
to the worst, God forbid, and terrorists lay their hands
on weapons of mass destruction, the consequences will be
terrible.
Our
military and special services are building relations in this sphere
of crucial importance for our countries. A case in point is
our cooperation in Syria, even though we do not fully agree
on the global goal and ways to achieve it.
However,
we maintain cooperation between our militaries and special services. Their
work concerns the fight against terrorism in the broad meaning
of the word.
Then,
the New START treaty will expire in 2021. What should we do about
this? I assured President Trump that Russia is ready to extend this
treaty, but we definitely need to discuss details.
We have
questions we need to ask our American partners. We believe that
the United States does not fully comply with this treaty, but this should
be discussed at the expert level. We also talked about Iran’s nuclear
programme.
We talked
about what we can do to improve the situation in North Korea.
I have said this before, but I will repeat that I believe
President Trump has done a great deal to promote the settlement
of this conflict.
However,
we will need international guarantees to attain complete denuclearisation
of the Korean Peninsula. Russia is ready to contribute towards
this to the extent that will be required.
Therefore,
it can be said that we can see eye to eye on these and several
other issues of concern to us. This allows us to say that much
has changed for the better during our meeting today.
Chris
Wallace: But do you see the summit as a turning point,
an end of the effort by the West in recent years
to isolate Russia?
Vladimir
Putin: And you can see that these efforts did not work out,
and they could not have worked out, considering Russia’s size
and importance in the world, including in the sphere
of global security, as well as in the economy if we
consider at least the energy component of the global
economy.
I believe
that our understanding of the things that unite us
and the things we should work on together is prompting us
to admit that we must stop fighting each other and should instead
join forces to deal with common problems in the fight against
shared concerns, so as to overcome these concerns. Therefore,
I believe that this is the beginning. It is a start.
I believe we have given a good start to this today.
Chris
Wallace: Mr President, one of the issues that is standing
in the way of more progress, as you know, are
the allegations of Russian interference in the US election.
You have repeatedly said, and you said again today, that this was not
the action of the Russian state, that if there was anything, it
was patriotic Russian individuals. I have here the indictment that
was presented on Friday from the Special Counsel Robert Mueller that
says that twelve members of Russian military intelligence, the GRU,
and they talk specifically about units 26165 and 74455, they
say – you smile, let me finish – they say that these units were
specifically involved in hacking into Democratic Party computers, stealing
information, and spreading it to the world to try
to disrupt the American election. May I give this to you
to look at, sir?
Vladimir Putin: Let me start my answer to your question from
a different angle. Look, everyone is talking about Russia’s alleged
interference in your election campaign. I said this in 2016, but
I would like to repeat this today, and I would like
the American audience to hear my reply.
First,
Russia as a state has never interfered in the internal
affairs of the United States, let alone elections.
Chris
Wallace: But sir, this is the indictment, I have twelve names
here. It talks about specific units of the GRU, Russian military
intelligence. Is the GRU not part of the Russian state?
Vladimir Putin: I will answer your question, have patience and you will
hear a comprehensive answer. As for interference
in the internal affairs of the United States. Do you really
think that it was possible to influence US elections from Russia,
to influence the choice of millions of Americans? This is
ridiculous.
Chris
Wallace: I am not asking whether they influenced, I am asking
whether they tried.
Vladimir Putin: I will answer you now, if you bear with me, you will hear
my answer. This was the first thing.
Second,
I said this in 2016, and I want to repeat it again
now. What was the problem? It concerned the hacking
of a Democratic candidate’s email. Did this attack involve
manipulation with facts? This is very important. I want the Americans
to hear this. Did anyone manipulate with the facts or plant fake
information? No.
The hackers
involved – don’t worry, I will get back to your question –
read that candidate’s emails and learned about manipulations within
the Democratic Party in favour of one
of the candidates. That is all.
As far
as I remember, the leaders of the party’s executive
bodies resigned. It means that they admitted this fact. I believe this is
the crucial thing. You must stop manipulating public opinion
and apologise to the voters for what was done, rather than
keep looking for those who allegedly did this.
Now back
to these issues. I said at the news conference,
and I can repeat this now. Mr Mueller…
Chris
Wallace: You are indicating that they stole real money, not counterfeit
money. So are you saying that this ok, the fact that they took from
the DNC, from John Podesta, it was their real e-mail, so it is ok
to hack, and spread this information out and interfere with
the election?
Vladimir Putin: Listen to me. There is nothing false
in the information at my disposal. Everything it says is
true, and the leadership of the Democratic Party has
admitted it. This is the first thing.
Second, if
you do not like my answer, please say so, and I will say no
more. But if you want the American people to know my opinion,
then have patience.
As for the specific
accusations, Mr Mueller has brought charges against a Russian company,
a small business working primarily in the catering industry.
I have spoken about this before.
This
company has hired American attorneys to protect its name
in an American court. This court has not yet found any trace
of interference by this company.
Do you
know about this or not? Let the millions of Americans know about
this as well. Now for the [Russian] citizens mentioned here. We
have a treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters,
a valid treaty that was signed in 1999. It has been applied quite
effectively. I cited an example of its effective application.
Why cannot Mr Mueller and his colleagues…
Chris
Wallace: I’m not trying to interrupt or be disrespectful.
Vladimir Putin: You are doing this.
Why cannot
Mr Mueller send an official request to us within the framework
of this treaty? Under this treaty, Russian investigators could question
all the individuals that our American colleagues suspect
of something. I have said this before. Why has none of this been
done to this day? This is surprising. Nobody has sent an official
request to us…
Chris
Wallace: But the indictment just came. Let me just say. I don’t
want to interrupt but I want to ask one question and move
on to other subjects. Why do you think Robert Mueller issued this
indictment three days before you and President Trump met here at the summit?
Vladimir Putin: This does not concern me. These are your internal political games.
Do not hold Russia-US relations hostage to your political infighting.
By the way,
it is obvious to me that this case has been used for internal
political fighting, and this is nothing to be proud
of for US democracy. Using law enforcement agencies
for political infighting is inadmissible.
I have
said what I think regarding this fact. Please, send us an official
request…
Chris
Wallace: Do you think that Mr Mueller is trying to sabotage
the relationship?
Vladimir Putin: I do not want to assess his work. It is not for me
to do this. Let the Congress which appointed him do this.
By the way, the court is not sure that Mr Mueller has been
appointed as special counsel in full compliance with American
legislation.
According
to the court, he was appointed to his current position
in violation of the law. But it is no concern of mine. You
deal with it yourself. As for suspicions and charges,
a procedure is stipulated in the above treaty which you can use
to send requests.
Chris
Wallace: May I move on, sir?
Vladimir Putin:Of course.
Chris
Wallace: I heard the news conference today. My opinion was
a bit curious because President Trump spent more time criticising
the Democrats and asking about the Democratic server that he did
in criticising Russia and asking about the GRU. There are many
theories in the United States about why President Trump is so
reluctant to criticise you, and I’d like to ask you about
a couple of them. One is that you have something on him,
kompromat. The other is that as a skilled politician
and a former KGB officer you know how to play him, you use
phrases like “fake news” and “deep state.” And my question is:
do you find President Trump easy to deal with?
Vladimir Putin: First, about why we talked as cultured people should. Why does
this come as a surprise? Did we need to meet, go
to Helsinki, Mr Trump across the ocean and I from Moscow
to abuse and throw mud at each other? This is not how things are
done in the global diplomatic practice.
There is
no need to meet if you only want to quarrel and worsen
relations. We met to find ways to improve our relations, not
to destroy them completely. This is the first part
of my answer.
The second
part concerns the compromising materials you asked about. No, we have no
compromising materials and cannot have any. I do not want President
Trump to take offence, and I do not want to sound impolite,
but we had no interest in him until he announced his decision to run
for president.
He is
a wealthy man, but there are many wealthy people in the United
States. He was in the construction business and organised beauty
pageants. Nobody ever thought he would be elected president. He never indicated
that he had any political ambitions. So the idea of compromising
materials is nonsense.
As you
know, I said at the news conference that 550 American business
leaders visited St Petersburg [International Economic Forum], and every
one of them is more important than Mr Trump used to be. Do you think
that we put pressure on each of them, that our secret services shadow
them, spy on them and tap their conversations?
First, we
do not do this, unlike you. Do not judge others by yourself. Second, we do
not have the funds, resources or personnel to spy
on everyone. This is just not in our plans. It is simply impossible,
and we certainly did nothing of this kind with regard to Mr
Trump.
Chris
Wallace: I’d like to ask you a couple of specific questions
about NATO. If NATO were to move to add either Ukraine
or Georgia to the Alliance, how will you respond?
Vladimir Putin: The situation in NATO is as follows. I know
about the decision-making mechanism used in the bloc.
Of course, its decisions are taken by consensus, but before taking
them, individual NATO members can be contacted on a bilateral basis,
as it was done with regard to Poland and Romania, which now host
elements of the US strategic missile defence system.
This poses
a direct threat to our national security. Therefore,
the advancement of NATO infrastructure towards our borders poses
a threat, and our reaction to it will be extremely negative.
Chris
Wallace: Secondly, there are two major NATO exercises later this year:
Anaconda and Trident Juncture. Did you and President Trump discuss
those and did he give any indication as he did with Chairman Kim
of North Korea when he agreed to stop participating in war
games. Did he give any indication that the US might not participate
in these two NATO operations?
Vladimir Putin: No, we did not discuss this, although it is an issue
of concern for us. The NATO infrastructure is expanding,
and the number of NATO servicemen in the regions where
there should not be any has increased by 10,000 people.
Under
the Founding Act on relations between Russia and NATO, there
must be no servicemen there. It is certainly a destabilising factor. We
must take it into account in our relations. But President Trump
and I did not talk about this today.
Chris
Wallace: I want to ask you about Russia’s involvement in Syria.
According to independent monitors, since the civil war began
in 2011, more than a half a million people have been killed,
and Russia has bombed civilians in Aleppo and Ghouta. No qualm
about killing innocents?
Vladimir Putin: A war is in progress and this is the most horrible
thing that can happen to humankind. Of course, victims are
inevitable. And people always ask, who is to blame?
As I see it, it is the terrorist groups, which have destabilised
the country, that are to blame. I mean ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra,
and the like. They are the true culprits.
This is
exactly what the US military reply, when they deliver strikes
at civilian facilities in Afghanistan, Iraq or some other
country. On the whole, although this may seem debatable
to someone, but on the whole this is true.
As far
as Syria is concerned, US aircraft delivered very serious strikes
at the city of Raqqa. Earlier today, President [Trump]
and I talked about the need to undertake efforts
for humanitarian operations. I think we managed to make some
headway in this direction. I am looking forward
to the implementation of the plans we discussed today.
Chris
Wallace: But the UN commission that is investigating Syria says
and I quote their words: there was deliberate targeting
of civilians by Russian pilots flying Su-24 and 34 military
aircraft.
Vladimir Putin: Everything is to be verified and assessed.
But
I would like you to return to what I have just said about
Raqqa. The aircraft that were attacking this city were piloted
by American…
Chris
Wallace: We cannot talk about Aleppo and Ghouta?
Vladimir Putin: Well, we can talk about Aleppo and Ghouta, but then let us talk
about Raqqa too. Don’t snatch some things out of their context
and forget about other things. All right?
Chris
Wallace: I do not think that there has been bloodshed in Raqqa. That
there were hundreds of thousands of people who were killed
in Aleppo and in Ghouta, and in the entire civil
war – half a million people. By some estimates, 20,000 children
have been killed by the Assad regime and his supporters
in Moscow. Are they terrorists?
Vladimir Putin: You are completely wrong; I wish you were familiar with
the real situation in Syria. A lot of civilians died
in Raqqa. Raqqa has been wiped off the face of the earth.
Now it is a solid mass of ruins resembling Stalingrad during World
War II, and, of course, there is nothing good in all this.
To reiterate:
it is the people guided by their terrorist beliefs and using
civilians as hostages who are to blame.
Chris
Wallace: At the G7 Summit, President Trump reportedly told
the other leaders that Crimea might as well be Russian because
everybody there speaks Russian. Did he give you any indication that
at some point, not today, but at some point he might recognise
Russia’s annexation of Crimea, or lift sanctions, or move
to bring Russia back into the G7, now the G8, all of which
happened as a result of the annexation of Crimea?
Vladimir Putin: Let me make a correction: when Crimea joined Russia it was not
an annexation, since the only form of democratic expression is
the expression of the will of the people living within
a specific territory.
People
in Crimea came to the referendum and voted
for independence and joining the Russian Federation. If this is
an annexation, what is democracy? This is my first point.
My second
point is that we are aware of President Trump’s position that Crimea is
part of the Ukrainian state, as he has repeated today, while
I articulated our position which is close to what I have just
told you. Having said that, I think we should leave our discussion
of Crimea at that.
Chris
Wallace: All right, we are running out of time anyway. Let’s move on.
Last year
Defence Secretary Mattis said that Russia is the greatest threat
to the United States. And he has since made it clear,
an even greater threat than terrorism. In March you introduced
a new generation of Russian missiles, including what you called
an invincible missile. You said that it could evade, defeat all
of our missile defences, and you even released a video that
showed that super missile flying over the United States and hitting
Florida very near where President Trump’s estate is at Mar-a-Lago. Aren’t
you escalating the arms race, and aren’t you being deliberately
provocative?
Vladimir Putin: As for the video, it did not indicate that
the missile targets US territory. You have to watch it more
carefully. This is the first thing I wanted to say.
Second,
all our strike systems target…
Chris
Wallace: It shows Florida.
Vladimir Putin: No, it did not say Florida. This is not true. Watch it one more time,
and pay more attention. It did not say Florida. All it made clear was that
the missile was headed to the other side of the globe.
Chris
Wallace: No, but you can see it on the map.
Vladimir Putin:No, you could not see this on the map. Just pay more attention
when you watch instead of scaring your people with threats that do not
exist. Yes, watch it carefully. Do you want me to give you this video
as a gift?
As for the strike
systems, let me remind you that they did not emerge out of nowhere. They
emerged as a response to the unilateral withdrawal
by the United States from the ABM Treaty. We warned our American
colleagues right from the outset that we were not ready to build
a missile defence system, since we did not believe in its
effectiveness, and it was too costly. Instead we said that we would do
everything to penetrate this shield.
As I have
said on numerous occasions, but let me repeat it
for the American audience, the response was the following:
“The missile defence system we, the Americans, are building is not
created against you, and you can do as you please. We will proceed
from the premise that it is not against us.” In 2003 or 2004
I made a public statement about one of these systems. Our
American partners did not respond in any way.
But now we
have done it and showed what we have. That being said, this is
a matter of negotiation, and we hope, and I hope very
much that we will be able to come to solutions in terms
of strategic stability that would be acceptable to both sides,
including regarding short- and intermediate-range missiles.
Chris
Wallace: I have limited time, I would like to ask you about
the alleged INF violation, but I want to move
on and ask you three final questions about Vladimir Putin. When you
were first elected in the year 2000, you were portrayed
as a democratic reformer, you talked about the value
of European culture and you did not even rule out becoming
a part of NATO. What happened?
Vladimir Putin: First, nothing has changed about me. I am the same
as I was then. I became President of Russia when I was
a grown man, and a person’s predisposition and fundamental
beliefs do not change at that age.
But we
have to react to what is happening around us. First, the two
waves of NATO’s eastward expansion. When Soviet troops pulled out
of Germany, we were told that there is one thing Russians can be
absolutely certain of: that NATO will never expand beyond Germany’s borders.
There were
two waves of expansion, contrary to our objections of principle.
They did not give a damn about our objections. We asked you not
to withdraw from the ABM Treaty, but the United States pulled
out of it unilaterally. You disregarded our calls not to do so
and our proposals to work together. There are other examples
of this kind.
Take
the developments in Yugoslavia. You know that President Yeltsin was
categorically against launching military operations without the approval
of the UN Security Council, which is the only legal way
of using the army. But nobody listened to us.
There were
other factors that complicated our relationship. For example,
the extraterritorial application of American criminal law, sanctions,
and so on. Was it us that introduced the sanctions? No, it was you.
You asked
me about Crimea and Ukraine. It was not us who organised a military
coup there and used military force to change the government
in violation of the Ukrainian Constitution, and it was not
us who handed out pies to the rebels. We are aware
of the complicated processes underway there, but this is not
the way to resolve them. And where is this happening? Right
at our doorstep.
So,
nothing has happened to me. I would like to know what has
happened to you.
Chris
Wallace: You say nothing happened to you, but I need to ask you
domestically, not internationally, domestically inside Russia. Why is that so
many of the people that oppose Vladimir Putin end up dead
or closed to it: former Russian spy and double agent Sergei
Skripal, the victim of a nerve agent attack in England,
Boris Nemtsov, a political opponent gunned down near the Kremlin,
investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, murdered in an apartment
building. Why is that so many people that were political enemies
of Vladimir Putin are attacked?
Vladimir Putin: First of all, we all have many political opponents. President Trump
has many political opponents too. Take any person involved in state…
Chris
Wallace: But they do not end up dead.
Vladimir Putin: Sometimes they do. Haven’t Presidents been killed in the United
States? Have you forgotten about that? Where was Kennedy killed,
in the US or in Russia? And what happened
to King? As a matter of fact, what happens during clashes
between the police and civil society activists, for example,
from ethnic African-American organisations? Does this happen in Russia
or in the US? This is all taking place in the US. You
have many challenges within your country.
It is
a sad truth that Russia has not been spared criminal activity.
In fact, the Russian state is still in the making,
and unfortunately there are many manifestations of this kind. We are
fighting this, and hold perpetrators to account.
You have
mentioned the Skripals. We want to see the documents
on this case, to get a glimpse of any materials. No one has
said anything specific, just as with the accusations against Russia
of meddling in the political processes in the US. We
have not seen a single document.
We now
learn that two more people have suffered from the toxic agent referred
to as Novichok, but I had never even heard their names. Who are
these people, how were they hurt and why?
Chris
Wallace: Supposedly they picked up the bottle that was used to attack
Skripal. Can I ask you one last question, sir?
Vladimir Putin: No, let’s stay on the subject. What bottle? Who picked it up?
Where? What was its chemical composition? Or can it be that these people
suffered from something else? Can it be that you have to look inside Great
Britain to find the cause?
No one
wants to get to the bottom of this issue. These are absolutely
groundless accusations. Why all this? Why make our relations worse? We want
to build a proper relationship with Great Britain as well.
Chris
Wallace: Finally, I know one of the reasons that you wanted
to do this interview was so that people in the United States
and the West could get a better understanding
of the real man. You are often portrayed as a strongman,
an autocrat, a person who is a symbol of Russia’s strength.
Are those fair characterisations of you, sir?
Vladimir
Putin: I do not claim to be a symbol of Russia. But from
the point of view of current law, the national flag,
the anthem, and the presidency itself are to a certain
extent the symbols of the country – and not only those
of Russia but also of any other country.
I hope
that my work also reflects what Russia is engaged in, what it is concerned
about, and what it is ready to do to normalise our relations
with all countries, including, of course, with such a great country
as the United States of America.
I have
mentioned the economy. Look, I cited these examples to Mr Trump.
Currently, the Europeans sell $100 billion worth of goods on our
market, plus another $50 billion worth of services. China sells
approximately $57 billion worth of goods on our market. But do you
know the figure for US sales? Twelve [billion dollars].
And another $5 billion of services.
This is
the result of your policies, including the sanctions policy. But
who needs that? You have just chased your own big companies from our market.
They have left and made way for rivals, including in major
projects that they were extremely interested in and invested in. Some
of them even lost money. What is that for?
We are
interested in developing relations in the area of security,
strategic stability, crisis management, the fight against terrorism,
and the economy. I hope that today President Trump
and I have made at least the first step in that
direction.
Chris
Wallace: Mr President, thank you. Thank you for talking with us. Spasibo.
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