(Kremlin.ru – October 12, 2016)

Vladimir Putin is taking part in the eighth Russia Calling! Investment Forum organised by VTB Capital. This year’s theme is Maintaining Responsibility, Expanding Opportunities.

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Question: Mr Kostin, thank you. President Putin, I’d just like to build on that question, if I might. Given the difficult week that Donald Trump has just experienced, are you now making preparations for working with President Hillary Clinton next year? A person who has described you as “calculating” and a “bully”. And can I ask you, could you directly address the claims that are being made of state-sponsored cyber spying and war crimes in Syria? I’d love to know how we deescalate this situation.

Vladimir Putin: What state espionage? Was this translated correctly? What is meant by state espionage?

Andrei Kostin: Hackers, I think.

Vladimir Putin: I see.

First. I have often said that the American people will make the choice that they consider necessary. In any event, we will work with any US leader, whoever that leader is and whoever the president is – that is, of course, if the US leader wants to work with our country.

A while back, about a decade ago, Russia was never mentioned, they said there was nothing to talk about with regard to Russia because it was a third-rate regional power that was of no interest. Today, the number one problem in the entire election campaign is Russia. It is the main talking point.

That is very welcome of course, but only partially. Why partially? Because all participants in this process are abusing anti-Russian rhetoric and spoiling our interstate relations. And this is bad both for our countries and for the entire international community. Let us not forget that globally, we bear a special responsibility as the two largest nuclear powers for maintaining international peace and security at the global level.

At the same time, you know, as a rule, we try not to talk about this, but they always whisper this to us in the course of every election campaign – this is happening not only now but was also the case in the previous election campaign. They keep whispering into our left ear and then into our right ear: Pay no attention to this, all of this will pass and we will be friends again. This is wrong. It is wrong to use Russia as a bargaining chip in internal political struggles and damage interstate relations. That is just not serious enough, to say the least. That is my first point.

Second, regarding the assumption that Russia is exerting pressure on someone, on other countries. Who is telling us this? Who is saying this? Our partners. The Administration is doing nothing but putting pressure on all countries. They are eavesdropping and tapping their allies and using this information. This is my response to the hacker attacks.

What are we witnessing? Some hackers published information about the unseemly conduct of Ms Clinton’s campaign headquarters – supporting one candidate for the party nomination at the expense of the other.

Hysterical accusations that this is in Russia’s interests were made. But there is nothing in Russia’s interests there. They freak out about it to distract the attention of the American people from the importance of what was published by the hackers. And the importance is that public opinion is being manipulated, but nobody talks about it. Everyone is talking about who did it, but is it so important who did it? What is important is the content of this information. That’s my answer.

[featured image is file photo from different occasion]

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