Moscow and Washington can and should cooperate on a number of issues, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual Q&A call-in session.
First of all, according to him, it is an issue of control over the non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. "We are the largest nuclear powers, it goes without saying that we can cooperate in this sphere. An extremely important sphere, very important. This concerns not only the North Korean issue, but other regions as well," the head of state explained.
Among other global problems, the president named the fight against poverty and negative impact on the environment. "Trump does not refuse to discuss the topic of ecology. To begin arguing with the [US] administration, exchanging barbs, offending each other is the worst path, because then we will not agree on anything at all, and without the United States there is no point in negotiating in this field as the United States alone is one of the largest emitters," Putin noted.
According to the Russian president, poverty is one of the sources of radicalism and extremism in many regions of the world. "And we need to decide what to do with this together, as with other partners - China, India and Europe," the head of state said.
Putin recalled that Russia and the United States successfully worked together to resolve the Iranian issue, which means 'we can work together'. "
"Now, as for ‘hot spots,’ of course everyone knows, as a matter of fact, that we worked together with the United States on a solution to the Iranian nuclear program, but still, did we come to an agreement? We did! Thus, there is a positive example of our cooperation, and we cannot but recognize our significant role in resolving this problem," Putin said.
"Therefore, we can agree, we can work together. The Syrian problem, the problem of the Middle East. It is obvious for everyone that without constructive work, without joint constructive work nothing will work out," Putin added.
"There is a clear sign of aggravation of the internal political struggle in the US, we can do nothing about it, but we are ready for dialogue," Vladimir Putin concluded.
Former FBI Director James Comey who secretly recorded his conversation with US President Donald Trump, is no different from Edward Snowden, so Moscow is ready to provide political asylum to him, Putin said during The Direct Line.
"If he continues to be persecuted in this connection, we will be ready to provide political asylum to him, he should know about that," the Russian president stressed.
The president noted that there were a lot of people in Russia who respected the achievements of the people of the United States and hoped that Russian-US relations would eventually normalize.
"I can say as the incumbent head of the Russian state that I know the sentiments of our people. We do not consider the United States as our enemy. Furthermore, twice in history, when we faced the most difficult times, we united our efforts, we were allies in the two world wars," Putin said.
Opinion polls show that Russia has many friends in the United States, however, hysteria in the media is likely to affect the mindset of the US citizens, according to the president.
"We know that we have a lot of friends in the United States. I was told about this by the US colleagues, and opinion polls, at least held a month ago, say that we have many friends there. However, unfortunately, such hysteria in the media certainly affects the mindset," Putin stressed.
It is the 15th President Vladimir Putin’s annual direct line.
