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Mr. President it's a pleasure to be in your city. First of all the city where you started your political career to be here in Russia which is a great country with a historic past and an important role to play in the future and its demand that its history and its size its culture its military strength and its possibilities give it a big role. There are big issues that can only be solved if Russia participates. And you will play a definitive role in that and we want to find out what you think about security and freedom about friends and enemies about borders and threats about economic policy and foreign policy about Ukraine and the Baltic states about Europe and the United States about Syria and Iran and about China and Russia very important problems and important conflicts that Russia will be part of the solution none more important than the borders of Russia none more important than Ukraine begin to see this afternoon and help us understand as you see it where are we . How do we get there and where do we go from here . Who are you. What's. All that is it. First of all I'd like to thank you for agreeing to work with us here today to be the moderator of this meeting this forum as schools the St. Petersburg Economic Forum so probably it would be better to concentrate our attention on the economic issues. But I agree with you without finding a solution to a number of acute international crises hardly any advances can be achieved. We've been talked about Ukraine repeatedly we understand there is no evading this question but you know we always talk either about Ukraine about something related to Ukraine several years ago we talked about the crisis in Iraq crises in different other countries we're talking about what has already transpired but we never talk about why it has happened but if you want to talk about it which is evidently quite important I should like to start with this very issue. Why is there a crisis in Ukraine I was quite confident that after that bipolar system went into oblivion after the collapse of the Soviet Union certain Western partners of ours particularly the United States were and it kinds of euphoria and instead of trying to create a new situation. Good neighborly partner relations. They started to explore new free geopolitical spaces while free in their view . And that's why we were witnessing the expansion of NI to east towards another phenomena. I was always wondering why that was happening and finally arrived at a conclusion I thought that some of our partners were under the illusion that after the Second World War there used to be one world order. And now that the USSR was gone they thought there was a vacuum which had to be filled. And I think that is not the right approach. Two words finding a solution to these issues. And that's why Iraq happened. We know and our partners agree that there were errors committed in Iraq. But still it happened once again in Libya and now in Ukraine. We are not the original cause of those crisis phenomena which happened in Ukraine. He should not have supported the illegal coup d'etat and a constitutional coup d'etat as well as a forceful seizure of power which finally resulted in a serious confrontation in Ukraine and civil war as it were. What has to be done now today. No doubt the agreements reached in Minsk the capital of Belarus should be observed. Let me emphasize if we were not content with something we wouldn't have put our signature there . But we have put our signature into those documents and we will seek their full implementation I'd like to draw attention to this fact. Your attention and the attention of our partners . But we cannot do that unilaterally. And I'm repeating it over and over again. They are telling us Russia has to influence somehow the situation in the southeast part of Ukraine but that is not enough. Influence has to be exercised also on the central authorities in Kiev. And we we cannot do that. This is the avenue which has to be pursued by our Western partners the Europeans the United States. Let's work together what do you want the Kiev government to do . We need you and. We don't want them anything to do. It is the Ukrainian people that has to want something from the government either to do or not to do. We believe that to achieve a settlement it means agreements have to be implemented. And the key issue here has no doubt the political component. And there are several elements to the political settlement. First the constitutional reform and the means agreements say that quite clearly either with providing and tournament status or stipulating for a distant realisation as our caller as everyone understands what that is. Our European partners the Germans and the French have explained what this distant realisation stands for and the Donbas and the Kiev authorities are okay with that. Secondly the law on the special stages of these territories Lugansk and Dunbar's unrecognized republics has to be enacted it has to be enforced. It has been promulgated but it is not being implemented yet and to that end a decree of their VIX Rada the Ukrainian parliament has to be adopted. And that what the Minsk agreements stipulated for formally. Our key friends have done it but once this decree was adopted by the writer they also introduced amendments to the law as a matter of fact . Bringing it to naught. So instead of manipulations they have to start practical work. Thirdly there has to be a law and political amnesty you cannot be engaged in a political dialogue with people who are in danger of criminal prosecution. And finally a law has to be adopted on municipal elections in these territories and these elections have to be performed. All that is stipulated in the Minsk agreements and I'm drawing your particular attention to that and all that has to be done and concert and in coordination with the representatives of the Minsk of selfless person of Ukraine unfortunately too much time has passed since the signing of these agreements now a direct dialogue is required between Luhansk Donetsk and Kiev. That is what is missing. And finally an economic rehabilitation of these territories has to be launched . I have said that repeatedly the excuse of having no money doesn't work here . And the current Kiev leadership believe that this is the territory of Ukraine that Ukrainian citizens reside there who are entitled say to disability allowance then they have to do something they cannot refuse to pay these allowances otherwise they are violating their own constitution . All that has to be implemented and not just in words but also in practice the states as you know the United States believes that you are arming the separatists and you're encouraging them and that you are using the Russian armed services and that adds to the conflict that heightens the emergency. And many people worry that it's tending towards some new Cold War to cope you know Cold War is caused not by local conflicts but by global decisions like the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the ABM Treaty that is indeed a step which pushes all of us towards a new spiral of confrontation but good. It shifts the global security system has two regional conflicts wherever they happen . Curiously wearing parties always find arms somewhere and the same goes about the eastern part of Ukraine. What I want to say is that if today's situation as resolved via political means. No arms will be required but to achieve that there has to be a goodwill as well as the willingness to be engaged in a direct dialogue wants to facility that would damage a facility that boat will never agree if anyone somewhere will try to speak from the position of force either with the police or the militia or special forces or armed forces until armed units and the so-called nationalist battalions arrived in those territories. No arms had been present there and there would have been no arms in those territories. Have they tried . From the very outset to resolve the issue via political means . Arms right there after the armed forces started to be used against those rebels. They are trying to resist and once they tried to resolve it by political means no arms will be fired what are acceptable borders for Ukraine for Russia. What borders are acceptable for you still with me. What do you mean when you're talking about bogus geographical borders or political borders what are you talking about specifically as for corporation we have always said and we're going to see that in future. There's nothing new about that despite all the difficulties of today. I've always thought that Ukrainians and Russians are one people at least one ethnic group. Well certainly they have their cultural peculiarities but they have common culture common spiritual foundations common history whatever happens in the end. Russia and Ukraine are destined to a common futurity from the very beginning we have thought that Ukraine has the right to make that same choice civilizational economic political choice. It's no secret. We all know that it was Russia who initiated the disintegration of the USSR. We initiated that providing sovereignty to all these countries and nothing happened . But both Russia and Ukraine apart from being bound by those ties that I've told you about. They're also bound by the realities of today. The common engineer any infrastructure the common energy infrastructure a common transportation system uniform regulation framework and we can also speak one language with no hindrances and it is related to us directly it is related to our interests . We've always assumed that we are going to resolve all controversies. And it's quite natural that controversies arise via negotiations. But if third parties start to be engaged in this process they have we believe to take into account our interests as well and not just try to put us before a choice. So in the political dimension we look forward to a full fledged and equal dialogue . I want to come back to the Ukraine but let's talk about the relationship that Russia has with a number of countries including the United States and China and others characterize their relationship with the United States. What's wrong with it. What's right with it. What does it need slowly I