On Friday Vladimir Putin visited the Tenth All-Russian Youth Forum "Seliger-2014" and answered questions put to him by participants. This year the forum gathered graduate students and young teachers of history, political science, sociology, philosophy and economics from Russian regions. Among other problems, they were particularly interested in what is happening in Ukraine.
Speaking about the situation in the neighboring country, Putin began with the events of the last year. "President Yanukovych postponed the signing of an economic agreement with the European Union, as he considered that the document needed serious improvement. And our Western partners, relying on fairly radical nationalist elements, carried out a coup. No matter what others say, we all understand what's going on, we are no fools, we've seen the symbolic cakes which were distributed on the Maidan, we know about the information support, the political support - it all indicates the full involvement of the United States and European countries in the process of the change of power, violent, the unconstitutional change of power in Ukraine. And the part of the country that did not agree with this is now being suppressed by brutal military force, planes, artillery, rocket launchers and tanks. If these are today's European values, then I'm just extremely disappointed. What happens next? We have repeatedly talked with the leaders of Ukraine, and with the leadership of the United States, European countries, they need to immediately stop the fratricidal war and start negotiations. After all, what did the leadership of Ukraine offer three or four weeks ago? It may sound so nice at first: they ceased fire. But what did they say? They said: "Seven days. Those who do not lay down their arms will be destroyed." Is that a decent way to hold negotiations? This is an ultimatum. Naturally, people took up arms, they took up arms to protect themselves, their lives, their dignity. Of course they did not agree to these conditions. After that, the resumption of hostilities took place. And what do we see now? Small towns and big cities are surrounded by the Ukrainian army, which directs strikes at civilian areas to destroy infrastructure, suppress the will to resist and so on," President Putin said.
The events unfolding in Ukraine reminded Putin of World War II, when Nazi troops surrounded Soviet cities and destroyed settlements with their inhabitants. "On Nevsky Prospekt, as you know, there still remains the inscription: "Citizens, Be careful when shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous!" You know what has come about? An awful disaster! So I can well understand the militia of the south-east - Donbass, Lugansk - they attempted to defend themselves. Why do they call this operation a humanitarian mission? What is the meaning of today's actions? It's to move artillery and multiple rocket launchers away from large cities, so they could not kill people. and what do we hear back from our Western partners? They say that they cannot do this, that they should allow themselves to die and that that will be good. No. They have to hold talks," Putin said.
Commenting on the arrest of a group of Russian servicemen on the territory of Ukraine, Putin said: "Ukrainian soldiers have entered our territory too, and in much larger quantities, once 450 people came, then 60, and 60 more recently, many of them have arms. There were cases when they came to our territory and said that they just got lost - in armored vehicles and with weapons. Actually, it's true, I'm talking seriously. I believe that they were in fact lost, because there is no marked border. If there is fighting on our borders, this is quite possible. So I think that this is a technical question. Petro Poroshenko and I talked about this, and he assured me that the Russian military personnel will be handed over to Russia just as we hand soldiers of the Ukrainian army over to Ukraine. Moreover, you know, we have been providing them with medical care, have treated them in our hospitals. Therefore, there is every reason to hope that they will do the same."
Talking about the position of the Western partners of Russia, Putin said: "Their position is like this: yes, we should hold negotiations, but first let us give the Ukrainian authorities some time to shoot a little bit - maybe they will put things in order there quickly." This kind of approach does not work, they must have already realized that. And we need to make the Ukrainian authorities begin these negotiations. They have to focus not on technical issues (which are extremely important, of course, for instance humanitarian issues such as the exchange of prisoners) but on substantive questions. Diplomats like to use this word. They have to agree what rights the people of Donbas, Lugansk, the whole south-east of the country will enjoy. As part of modern civilized rules, the legal rights and legitimate interests of these people should be formulated. That is what should be discussed. And then it will easy, I'm sure, relatively easy, to address the issues related to security and so on. It is important to agree on this point. In fact, they do not want to talk, that's the problem."
Explaining his appeal to the militia of the south-east of Ukraine calling for a humanitarian corridor to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, Putin said: "Of course I read the reports of our special services concerning the events happening in Ukraine, I saw the reaction of the mothers and wives of servicemen of the Ukrainian army who were in this encirclement. This is a tragedy for them too. That's why I called on the militia of Donbass to open humanitarian corridors to allow people to get out. Many have been there without food and water for several days, even the ammunition ran out. The militia should give them the opportunity to leave. The latest reports said that the Ukrainian leadership and the commanders of the Ukrainian army have decided not to release them from the encirclement but to attempt to push the militia and come out of it in a fight. I think it's a huge mistake that will lead to great losses, it's terrible ... the things happening today in Ukraine are our common tragedy. And we must do everything to ensure that they are stopped as soon as possible."
Putin also raised the issue of the political life of Russia. In particular, referring to the political system, the president asked: "Do we have to lay the foundations of a political system? God knows. I'll tell you why. Because only practice, as is well known, is the criterion of truth, and we will have to see whether what was created really works in life. And life will show us what in fact we have created and how it corresponds to the current state of development of our society and our country. But, in my opinion, the main load-bearing frames have indeed been created. You know, we live in a very peculiar kind of country. At first we forced the noblemen to grow beards, then to chop off those beards, then we forced them to grow them again, then to chop them off again. And the same is true for the economy as well. During the economic crisis, certain countries and the global economy in general raised the issue of the level of governmental regulation, and everyone starts to say that without it it would be impossible, that the government should assume this responsibility. Once the economy comes out of the crisis, they say that such regulations are chains, chains that keep the economy from moving forward, that the laws of the market will adjust everything itself. And this move leads to a liberal direction, which really helps to develop faster, but will also accumulate an inevitable crisis, and then again elements of state regulation will be necessary," Putin said.
"The same is true for the structure of society and the state. We cannot, of course, rely only on the heritage of the old times. Still, we should always respect our traditional values, but they must not hinder us to go forward, we must take into consideration the condition of the society. For example, the Soviet period was quite successful, despite all the criticism of the Soviet period, the economy and the state. Whatever anyone says about the victims of the Second World War, we still won it. After all, you know, it is possible to criticize military leaders and Stalin, to say everything could have been done in a different way, but we still have to be objective, to look at the problem from various points of view. Although, the fact that Stalin was a tyrant, that he launched mass repressions, that there was the cult of his personality are well-known, no one denies it. At some point it became clear that at some stage of development this one-party system, the domination of one, in this case the Communist Party, did not meet the level of development of our society and prevents the successful development of the state. Strictly speaking, this was what led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the collapse of its economy and political system."
Speaking of a multi-party system, the president said: "There is, of course some criticism, some say that we have no real opposition. I do not agree with this, I fact I strongly disagree: we have a real multi-party system. Parliamentary parties act tough enough during election campaigns, when they feel that they have a good chance. Look at the campaign of 2012. Was it some kind of game, or what? Of course not. An unbiased observer was quite able to make sure that it is a tough inter-party struggle. Yes, when the elections are over (it happens everywhere) it is clear that it is pointless to fight anymore, so there is a struggle in other areas. And the four parliamentary parties have their own point of view on the development of the economy, the social sphere and the state as a whole. "
Asked what he thinks about his high rating, Putin said: "A man must have his own belief in the rightness of what he is doing. If the public has not yet realized the positive character of a politician's activities, the problem is not how to adjust to the general opinion, the challenge is to be open and honest, to explain your own position. This is very important. If people see that the head of the region, the municipality, the state believes he is right, he is honest and open, then, I assure you, I have experienced this many times, people are imbued with confidence and begin to support their leader. This is an extremely important thing. Even if at some point it is not reflected in the ratings, if there is no error, if we are on the right path, the people will eventually understand it and support the leader. That's what I have always been doing."
Touching upon the security of Russia, Putin said: "We are strengthening our nuclear deterrent forces, we are strengthening our armed forces. They really are more compact, more efficient. They really are becoming more modern in terms of being equipped with modern defense systems. We continue to strengthen this potential and that's what we will do." According to the President, this is done not in order to confront someone, but in order to feel safe and be able to implement plans for the development of the economy and social sphere. "We must always be ready to repel any aggression against Russia, our partners need to understand that one should not mess with us," Putin warned. "Russia is one of the most powerful nuclear powers. This is not a word, it's a reality."
