FULL Q&A: President Putin Stuns Global Media on Ukraine, Trump, Germany Gas and Peace Talks | AC15

The results that we have achieved in our cooperation. Here's what I would like to point out. In the recent years, especially after the beginning of the events that we're currently witnessing in Ukraine, we keep hearing people say that Russia made a pivot towards Asia. That Russia changed its policy. No, Russia did not change anything. We did not pivot anywhere. The agreement which laid down the foundations of our cooperation with China, the basic agreement that helped us achieve today's results, the results which are quite impressive, I must say. According to different statistics, we have about 250 billion US dollars of trade volume, and we see great diversification. But, let me repeat, it all started back in 2001 when we signed the basic agreement. It was back in 2001. We are natural allies and partners. We are neighbors. We share a vast common border. You don't choose your neighbors. This is a thing of history. Throughout centuries and during our interactions, we have elaborated a certain system of principles that we stick to in our relations. It didn't occur today, yesterday, or 5 years ago. We have been working on them throughout centuries. China is rapidly developing. China is getting an increasingly large share in global economy, politics, and international affairs in general. Of course, we have been closely monitoring this progress, and we have been working together, cooperating. 25 years ago, we signed a foundational agreement that laid a good basis and established good fundamental conditions for developing bilateral cooperation across all areas. And now here are the results. In the recent years, we have seen greater economic growth and diversification of the economies of Russia and China. We see new opportunities opening for us in various areas. I'm not going to enumerate all of them, but I will say that most importantly, in the recent years, we have been paying more and more attention to the matters related to the new economy based on artificial intelligence, digital technology, the biological and genetic achievements, and so on. We have always been cooperating. This isn't a thing of the past 5 years. We've always had cooperation in the military sphere. And we shall continue this cooperation as before. Nothing new has happened here. These are traditions of our relations. Military and military-technical cooperation are important domains for us. We make new advancements in this area. This isn't something related to the current events that the world is watching, including the events in Ukraine or in the Middle East. This is something that we have been working on. This is a result of our friendship with China. This is not a friendship against someone. This is a friendship that helps us mutually. And I would like to point out the achievements in the area of AI and high-tech. I think this is where the future of our cooperation lies. We always say this when we meet with President Xi and he calls me his old friend and I also call him that. This is no exaggeration or figure of speech. We enjoy great trust and confidence. First of all, we are guided by our national interest, the interest of our countries, which coincide in many cases. This serves as a good foundation to make new achievements. This is why I believe that we have laid down good foundations. We have good preconditions for improving relations with China and I'm sure that all the goals that we set forward during my visit will be achieved fully. Me and President Xi have had an important schedule that we have had many bilateral meetings. Our governments also maintain contacts. Our ministries and agencies maintain regular contacts as well as our leading businesses. The companies, including those in the energy sphere. In this particular area, I think very soon we will have some pleasant news to announce for the global energy sphere. I'm talking about new agreements between Russia and China. Colleagues, who is going to be next? Nijay Joshi. Director General and Editor-in-Chief of the Press Trust of India.

You gave the description yourself, and it is true. We enjoy a special privileged strategic partnership. That is how I characterize this relationship. It did not occur yesterday or 105 years ago. This is something we've been working upon for decades. Back in 1947, when the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with the Indian Republic, we have been doing everything to support the establishment of a new state, a new independent state. And I'm glad to say that thanks to the hard work and the talent of the Indian people, India has made great and important achievements in its development. We all know very well, all those gathered here must know that India is one of the leading economies of the world that shows the highest rates of economic growth. And this is not something that comes out of the blue. This is a result of hard work that the government has been doing under leadership of the Prime Minister Modi. Because these rates of development have been demonstrated by India while plans and strategies are implemented formulated by Modi as the head of the government of the Republic of India. We are engaged in a lot of joint efforts and we hope that in upcoming years we will reach 100 billion US dollars in mutual trade. Now it's about 58 billion US dollars or 60 billion US dollars, but we have all the foundations to work more actively and to reach more ambitious goals. And we're not only talking about our plans in energy including nuclear energy. Kudankulam NPP is now being constructed. New platforms will emerge in terms of hydrocarbons. We will be continuing working together. We have one of the largest investment projects into the Indian economy in your country and we will be doing mutual investments. Everyone knows that India is very active in pharmaceutical industry and our economic operators are ready to propose a lot of interesting projects. I'm not going to enumerate all of the initiatives, but we have already outlined long perspective plans that are of interest for both India and Russia. Your question seemed a bit strange to me. You said that the cooperation between India and the US creates difficulties in the relations between Russia and India. I don't think that this is the case. Let's distinguish. Why would you think that? We're glad that India is developing its relations with all the countries. It's a great country, 1 and 1/2 billion people, a large economy, the largest democracy, as many people say. Of course, it is only natural that it develops its economy in accordance with its interest, with those countries that it deems necessary. Another thing is that the US are trying to put pressure on India in some matters. For example, when it comes to cooperation with Russia on some tracks, but everyone has understood that putting pressure on Narendra Modi, who has the largest population in the world, is detrimental for international relations and for bilateral relations. It doesn't matter where this pressure comes from. We don't see any negative consequences. I think that we can come to an agreement with all the participants of this process. And as of today, there are no serious repercussions emanating from this state of affairs. We're developing our ties with India and will continue doing that, and we deem India to be a very reliable partner. James Jordan, representative of the US, the Associated Press agency, please. Please be as genuine as you can.

Thank you very much. One thing does not exclude another. We can control the whole Donbas region and we can strike a deal. One thing does not contradict another. Why would you think that it does? You have referred to a statement of Marco Rubio. He's a very serious partner and we stay in contact with him. Recently, I think he gave a speech in the Senate or in the Congress. As far as domestic policy issues go, it is a complicated situation. Someone supports him, someone attacks him. Secretary of State talks about his domestic matters and it is of interest to us, but we are more interested in a real situation. You're talking about the conflict in Ukraine. So, we are interested in the real state of affairs on this track. What does it look like? It looks as follows. First and foremost, one should pay attention to it. The Russian armed forces are advancing along the whole line of contact. There is no place where we would not be advancing. The most important problem or issue of the Ukrainian armed forces is a critical lack of personnel, of servicemen. Recently, the numbers have dropped by 100,000 people. Monthly, they lose about 40,000 people. As a result of this process of busification, they capture people on the streets and put them in the buses like stray dogs. Monthly, they lose about 40,000 people on the battlefields. The compulsory mobilization gives them about 15 to 16,000 people. About 14,000 people come back from hospitals following their injuries. As a result, each month, they lose about 10,000 people. Plus, about 20,000 people are deserters. In this year, so far, the number of deserters has amounted to about 60,000 people. Well, they drafted them in a compulsory manner. So, no one wants to fight. In Ukraine, the official figure is 2,200,000 cases have been initiated on the fact of being a deserter. That's one of the issues, but that's the most critical issue in place. It leads to the loss of territory and settlements. Recently, and I'm not going to give you the exact number of settlements because I'm afraid I can make a mistake. But, about 2,440 square meters of territory was captured by the Russian armed forces. We advance on a daily basis. You talked about the Donbas region. The Russian Federation has full control of the Luhansk People's Republic. And it has also acquired control of about 85% of the Donetsk People's Republic. Until recently, Ukraine used to control 25% of the territory. Now, it controls less than 15%. 80% of the Zaporizhzhia region are under our control. And this process is progressing every day. Of course, Western sponsors are supplying great numbers of drones of different models, long-range drones to Ukraine. Some are able to penetrate our air defense systems. But Russia has an effective and efficient air defense system. Of course, we have to update it, to modernize it, to strengthen it. But Ukraine does not have the system at all. They have separate components of the system, but they don't have the system as a whole. They have Patriot systems, other systems, but there's a great lack of them, but they don't have a unified system in place. They don't have any strike capabilities the likes of which Russia has. I'm talking about hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, land-based, sea-based, air-based systems. I'm talking about all of them. And there's another thing that is maybe the most important thing that I'd like to talk about. The Russian people is full of patriotism and is willing to do everything for the victory. That's the main prerequisite for achieving all the goals and tasks of the special military operation. The list of questions that I deem important should include one other condition. Namely, the presence of one's own scientific, military, and personnel base for solving all the issues to supply everything that is necessary for the Russian Federation. And this base has been strengthened month in month out. And of course, it is at the foundation of all those accomplishments that I have just referred to. Therefore, I'd like to sum up what I've been talking about for the last couple of minutes. I'd like to add that there is no doubt that we are ready, that we want to come to an agreement with Ukraine through peaceful means. Using the foundation that we discussed with President Trump in Anchorage. Back then, we received questions whether we could agree on a compromise. And we discussed it in Anchorage. And Russia agrees to the compromise that we talked about in Anchorage. Important is that the Ukrainian side agrees to them as well. Then, the conflict would peter out naturally and very fast. Thank you very much. Have you received all the answers to your question? You could also ask more questions if there is enough time for it. Mr. President, these retaliation strikes that we are launching with regards to or as an answer to attacks on the Russian infrastructure on Ukrainian infrastructure, these strikes are systematic in their nature, but one last attack, one retaliation attack that Russia launched, I'd like to clarify something. Have we used the Oreshnik system? And what advantage does it give to us when we use such systems? As far as our new systems go, they emerge, we see them emerge. It is true for the Oreshnik system, but I think it's a bit different from what we used to do previously, before the conflict erupted in Ukraine. What I mean by that is that we used to test these systems on test sites, but we have not tested Oreshnik, because we didn't have any. We haven't used Oreshnik on the battlefield when you're being genuine. And I'm going to reveal a military state secret to you today. Because we launched a strike, and we wanted to see the results because it was convenient. We're talking about the Bila Tserkva settlement, and the Donetsk People's Republic, where the main fortified region is. Our drone strike that hit a building, and we wanted to see what it was built on. We made exact calculations because it was important for us to be able to make decisions in the future to apply the Oreshnik systems when we want to strike certain targets in the city boundaries. What's our next question? Martin Romanchyk from DPA, Germany. I wanted to ask a question. Mr. Romanchuk, you represent one of the largest media agencies in Germany. Being a journalist, do you see that your country is doing the preparations for a war? Is it true what we are seeing? Or is it just we that are seeing that? Or are you really trying to start a war? You don't have to answer because it's not an interrogation. You're just an investigator. Well, we'll talk later following this meeting. Please.

You said something that I'd like to draw your attention to. First, you said that Europe would like to take part in these negotiations. Is that right? Second, who, apart from Mr. Schroeder, could possibly act as a mediator? One thing is to participate in the negotiations and another thing is to be a mediator. How can the European Union or separate countries of the European Union be a mediator if they directly abet the efforts of the country with which we have an open armed conflict? They are engaged in this conflict directly. How can they act as intermediaries? Because if you want to be a mediator, you have to be neutral. Moreover, it is with surprise that I saw the reaction to what I had said about Mr. Schroeder being a possible mediator. Discussion started. Mr. Schroeder is a friend of Mr. Putin. No, Mr. Schroeder is not a friend of Mr. Putin. He's a German statesman, one of the best to my mind because he has his own opinion and he's brave enough to advocate his stances and positions. We don't see many politicians today that have similar qualities and similar character. Today, what we see in Europe is that the situation is quite complicated in terms of energy. But, it is Mr. Schroeder who is building the infrastructure, for example, Nord Stream pipeline. Why? To provide the German economy with cheap reliable supplies from Russia. It's more than that. He did not just ensure the supplies. He could provide that economic operators, the economic entities, bear mutual responsibility. We have good relations. That's true. But more important is that he pursues the national goals of his own country. But moreover, you can trust him. That's the main issue, the main essence. Some people want to act as mediators. And both parties to the conflict should trust these intermediaries. But I do not understand how can you trust or how can Russia trust the people that have been repeatedly saying about inflicting a strategic defeat upon Russia. That's the issue. That's the issue, Martin. That is the problem. Nevertheless, we never reject any opportunity. We had never said no to contacts with the representatives of the European Union in certain formats, whether it is with intermediaries on Ukraine or not. I have said that we have our problems with that. It is hard to disagree with that. And yet, we maintain contacts. We do not reject them. You may just pick up the phone and call us if you want to come. You may come. But, it is up to them. They are not willing. I was surprised to hear that Russia, this evil Russia, stopped supplying energy resources to Europe. We never stopped. Europe just said no. They refused to buy, hoping that we would collapse. But, they have seen for themselves that we did not collapse. So, they understood that it was enough. So, they changed something a bit. We have always been open. There have been so many public statements that it is now hard for Europe to change its tones, even though they see that it's detrimental. I'm not going to make comments on that, but I want to repeat we never said no. If someone believes it necessary to revive dialogue with Russia, we're ready for that. You're welcome to do so. But, who is going to be the negotiator from Europe? I don't know. We're not trying to impose our opinions. I simply heard the discussions saying that Russia is trying to impose something through the negotiator. We're not doing that. Naturally, we want to understand who this could be. And I repeat that these must be people that we can trust, that everyone can trust. These are just working details that can be discussed and ironed out further at the level of foreign ministries, for example, or at the level of our intelligence agencies. Our intelligence contacts continue, by the way. You mentioned Nord Stream, Mr. President. Currently, at the economic forum, we have members of the AfD party, Alternative for Germany. They speak out in favor of Russia renewing energy supplies through Nord Stream pipeline. What do you think about this political party? And at their result at the local and federal level during the elections, what are your expectations of the party Alternative for Germany? What is your attitude to that? Thank you. On my part, it would not be very appropriate to give my personal opinions for political powers in the Federal Republic of Germany. We're aware, and I am aware, of the fact. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I've been informed. I know that AfD is currently ranking first in the rating of political parties of Germany. It overtook the Christian Democrats. And they have made great leaps, and they are far ahead of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. I'm not going to make any comments. I will only say one thing. In my view, this is all due to the fact that the leadership of this political party is capable of stating their clear positions in the interest of the German people and German economy. They are not afraid to speak about that openly, and they are ready to fight for it. This is reflected in their political ratings and results. What is going to happen next, and how things are going to progress on the political arena of Germany, I don't know, and I don't want to make any forecasts or predictions. Speaking of the views, we welcome all political powers of the Federal Republic of Germany, all those willing to restore and develop relations with Russia. Whether it is the AfD party or any other political force, we are open to working with everyone willing to work with us. Here's someone wishing to work with us, Belarus. The Belarus Information Agency BelTA, Mr. Andrei Mukhortov.

I see. There is nothing unnatural here. The political forces backing the current Prime Minister of Armenia have been openly saying this for a long time. There is nothing inherently bad about it. They're using certain Western standards and views, the European standards. I believe that any sovereign nation has the right to choose their own priorities the way they see fit for the development of their own country and to reinforce their independence, sovereignty, and economy first of all. It is up to them to choose the relevant standards and partners. Here's what was the cause for our concern. It is the fact that Armenia adopted a law, a law to begin. By the way, Mr. Lukashenka pointed that out. I even forgot about it. But this is the name of the law, the law on the beginning of the process of joining the European Union. That's okay, nothing special. However, Armenia, as I said and as discussed in Kazakhstan when I met my counterparts, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. We have our different standards, different technical rules and regulations, different agricultural standards, different transportation and logistics rules. There is a vast number of differences between us. I wish that in the future we could iron out all the differences in the standards and the technicalities and the logistics and so on. There is a great number of technicalities which are very important for economic development. I wish that someday the standards of the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union could coincide. That would create a vast economic space as said by President de Gaulle, from Lisbon to the Urals and further to Vladivostok. But, it is currently not possible. It's technologically impossible at this point. We have incompatibilities between the free trade areas of the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union. So, this is what concerned us. Armenia adopted a law, not just idle talk, but a law. So, we asked our Armenian colleagues to make their choice. What direction are they going to take? This would define the future of the markets and the ways that regulations would work within the Eurasian Economic Union. Just like in the EU, we have disputes and discussions on each matter. Sometimes we even go as far as having very heated discussions. Sometimes every comma, every point matters. In practical terms, we're interested in the future of our interactions. This isn't just about energy resources, although it's an important component, one of the few components we have left. As we coordinate our common policy, it is the common energy market. Even our colleagues in Germany are concerned about Nord Stream, naturally. This is a very important area. And in the post-Soviet space, within the Eurasian Economic Union, this is also very important. This is the only thing we asked to make a choice. Even Prime Minister Pashinyan himself, back in the day, or I'd say very recently, he said that he believed it necessary to organize a referendum on this issue. We only have one thing to ask. Do that as soon as possible. That's it. We don't have any claims against them. We maintain good relations with Armenia and we will maintain them whatever the decision they take. That's it. Speaking of other countries, irrespective of the technical difficulties, we always find an agreement with the countries on the post-Soviet space. For Armenia specifically, it was Russia who insisted at the request of Armenia that they become a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. Keeping in mind that in a number of parameters, the Armenian economy did not really fit the common context of our space. But now they decided that they should think about the different direction. We don't mind that. They're free to do so. We only ask them to make their choice as soon as possible so that we can see the future more clearly. This is not a political issue in my view. There are certain economic and technical issues. That's right and I hope we will deal with them. Speaking of Nord Stream and energy, by the way, as you know, Nord Streams have been destroyed, exploded. But there is one line of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is still intact. We could launch the supply of gas tomorrow. We could provide natural gas to Germany from Russia at first notice. It's a matter of just pushing the button and the gas will go. But it will require a decision by the government of Germany. We have an existing contract between Gazprom and their partner in Germany. Contacts are still there. They maintain contacts. Gazprom never rejected that. Gazprom could start shipments tomorrow if needed. And the partners of Gazprom are also willing. They want that. So, the only obstacle is a decision by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. This is a matter of politics, a matter of sovereignty. They didn't just set off an explosion. This was an act of state terrorism. I think you will agree with that. There is still one line of the pipeline. It is intact, but it is still under American sanctions, the US sanctions. If the government of Germany could find an agreement with their partners and lift the sanctions, then we can just push a button and natural gas will flow whenever we do that, even tomorrow. It's a matter of sovereignty and a matter of finding an agreement. If you say no, if it is a no, but you can say to the partners in Washington that you need that since you're going through trying times and great challenges given the high prices which undermine the competitiveness of German economy. They're harming the entire European Union because Germany is the power train of the entire European economy. You may say that you need the system or perhaps you can find a solution and find a peaceful resolution by explaining the seriousness of the situation. That's all it takes. It's about 25 to 28 billion cubic meters of natural gas that can be supplied at first notice, even tomorrow. We are on the ready. But Gazprom should receive an answer from the German partners whether they're going to accept this natural gas or not. Because otherwise, we will redirect it to other markets, to other partners. We can sell to them. But, there is an existing contract. And it is not Gazprom who is not complying with the contract. Gazprom is at the ready. It is the German partners that is not taking the Russian gas because they have their orders from Brussels and from Berlin not to accept Russian natural gas. A ban. That's it. Let's continue. Next, please. MENA agency, Egypt. The Middle Eastern Information Agency. Shukra Tarif.

President Al-Sisi is our good friend. I have good personal relations with him. And it helps us develop bilateral links. We have stable volume of trade. And we have good prospects for the future. We have major joint projects. For many years, we've been talking about establishing the Russian Technological Park in Egypt, in the Nile Valley. And we're currently actively working to implement the project of the construction of nuclear power plant in Egypt. And I hope that it's currently 2026, and by 2028, the first energy block of the NPP will be launched. We're working very actively on this track. We attract a great number of local professionals and specialists in construction. This is a major project. We actively work in other areas as well. We have trusting relations in the area of political cooperation and international cooperation. We highly appreciate the efforts of President Al-Sisi to settle all the situations in the Middle East. Currently against the backdrop of the events taking place around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, we forgot about the tragedy of Palestine, but it is still there. It is still there. And the President of Egypt has always made a great contribution trying to find a just settlement for the problems related to Palestine. And naturally I would like to emphasize the Russian Federation believes that the fundamental solution to this issue is the establishment of a full-fledged Palestinian state. I know that the President of Egypt is actively involved in the agenda related to the settlement of the crisis in Iran. He maintains regular contacts with all the stakeholders in the process and we also maintain contacts with him. We all consult them and we hear each other. We listen to each other. And we take our positions into consideration. I would like to thank President Al-Sisi for the attention that he's paying to the development of the Russian Egyptian relations. This is very important. Egypt is one of our priority partners in the region. It was Spain who was speaking of Middle Eastern conflicts. We have a Samuel Samson Agote of the FA information agency, please.

I believe that yes, it is true. The European Union could try and help us find a solution. I believe that the solution shall lie within the framework of the agreements reached in Anchorage. The Ukrainian side is very well aware of that. There is one more point. Back then and before Anchorage, Russia was asked whether we were ready to accept a number of compromises. And I remember when I came with a visit to Anchorage, I told President Trump that I we were ready and I gave him the details about the agreements and the compromises that we could reach. They just should be accepted by the Ukrainian side. That's what is important. But you have to take into account the domestic policy situation. I don't think that Kiev is ready for it. If we achieve peace there, the fight for power in this country, the economic situation against this backdrop. All this will change radically. And I think that the authorities are not interested really in the cessation of hostilities because then people in power would hardly receive any prospects of staying in power. You have to also address economic issues. European experts know that we're talking about hundreds of billions of euros that Ukraine requires to recuperate economically. We know about the proposals of the German Chancellor that Ukraine should become an associated member of the EU. It does not concern us. We would mind if the EU turns into a military block. That is what causes concern. But when we're talking about economic integration, associations, we don't mind. But European experts know what the cost of such an association would be. And European agriculture experts know that. If Ukrainian agricultural produce goes to European markets, they know what the result would be. I can delve into this topic, but going back to your question, I can say the following. Of course, the European Union can play a role, but not by supplying weapons to Ukraine, but by trying to make Ukraine reach a compromise that we talked about in Anchorage. Azerbaijan, Vugar Aliyev, director general of Azertac.

I think that our ties, our relations, are good. They're friendly. And they have been friendly always. I'm talking about the economy, about politics. A couple of years ago, we signed a strategic cooperation treaty and we are developing our relations. President Aliyev makes great efforts to fill this treaty with substance and we see that in certain areas for our cooperation. I think that we have aggregated investment to the tune of 10 billion dollars. And we have a lot of enterprises with Russian capital working in this country. We closely cooperate in the humanitarian domain and there is a large number of Azerbaijani nationals working in our country and they make remittances to their country and we are trying to organize it in a civilized manner. There are a lot of issues, matters that are of mutual interest in logistics. We know about the North-South international transport corridor. Of course, it has now slowed down because of the events in Iran, but it is of mutual interest to both countries and we're very thankful to President Aliyev for providing assistance in sending humanitarian aid to Iran. The Azerbaijani side has demonstrated its efficiency in this regard and responded to our requests. It is very important.

It was very important to mitigate the situation. Our trade turnover is on the rise. New avenues are emerging to supply goods and commodities. There are some areas that I think we cannot talk about yet, I'm talking about the energy sector first and foremost. I'm going to meet President Aliyev and we will talk about it in detail. I think that the two countries are establishing their relations in a positive manner.

Thank you very much. Colleagues, who's next?

As for our initiatives that we can put forth during the summit, we're going to be guided by the initiatives of Kyrgyzstan, the host country of the summit. We know that the president of Kyrgyzstan and all our colleagues are hard at work thinking about it. Our competent government bodies are in close contact. Our foreign ministries, our economic agencies are closely cooperating and coordinating these processes, and I am confident that necessary compromises will be reached. Generally speaking, we hope that it's not going to be about words only, but there will be progress. The association was first established as a tool for addressing border area issues between the People's Republic of China and the former Soviet republics bordering China, but I think it's now made up of 27 countries. It's a very serious association. We are engaged in serious efforts aimed at economic integration. Maybe not everyone has noticed it, but it is an important factor in regional affairs. 27 countries, just think about it. It's a very serious matter. It is important that Central Asia, with all its resources, vast territories, and growing population, increasingly attracts the attention of the international community. Because first and foremost, it has vast economic potential, and everything that is now being done within the organization will of course be of interest to both Russia and our partners. And we wish every success to our Kyrgyz friends, and we will do everything in our power to make our contribution to ensure this summit takes place successfully.

France and Great Britain, let's start with France. France Press main managing editor Pierre Assay. Please, you have the floor.

Whether Mr. Zelensky is a legitimate representative of Ukraine, I would say that lawyers should deal with this issue to answer this question. They should analyze this in detail. Of course, if we reach this stage of signing documents, it's not our whim. You understand, any country in our position should sign documents of this kind. These are historic documents we're talking about. So, we should sign these documents with legitimate representatives. In accordance with the basic law, with the constitution of the party, we're talking about Ukraine in our case. Of course, this is an issue that will be painstakingly studied by future analysts. And I've talked about it at length already, repeatedly. Two years exactly, to the day, 2020 to 2024. The mandate of Mr. Zelensky expired. His presidential mandate expired. At the end of last year, at the beginning of this year, people started talking about the elections in Ukraine. We don't hear any news about it now. Will they hold elections or not? We should ask these questions because this is important. No one is talking about it. If they decide to organize these elections, when is it going to happen? And the result is also very important according to the Ukrainian constitution. The president can only be elected two times, five years each term. If you take the position that President Zelensky prolonged his mandate in a legitimate way, well, two years have elapsed anyway. What is he going to do now? Is he going to be elected for five more years? No, it's not in accordance with the constitution. You can only be elected for two terms in a row, for ten years in total. What about the two years that he has been in power? What about these last two years? There are a lot of questions in this regard. But if it so happens that we sit at the table and are ready to sign the relevant documents, if there's a wish to use peaceful means to put an end to this conflict, and Russia wants to do that, so if that happens, we'll find the people who would sign the relevant documents. It's important that they are willing to do that. It is very important, but it's a question for the lawyers. As far as what I can say to Mr. Zelensky, if we are nearing the end of the conflict, well, thank God, that's what one would say, that it's going to be over soon. But of course, lawyers should research it carefully and meticulously. And I think everyone understands that. So, I'd like to reiterate it once again. We can sign these documents only with the people who undoubtedly are legitimate for signing such documents. There are a lot of options. The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, maybe Zelensky himself, but one should of course look at what kind of documents these are and what legal consequences they're going to have. Well, the main thing is the desire to do that, but we'll find a way to send the documents if time comes.

As far as the economy goes, I remember Mark Twain's words. I think it was Mark Twain. I think the rumors about my death are hugely exaggerated. I think that was a joke that he made at one point. Now, we remember the forecast that Russia will lose on the battlefields. I also remember the then president of the United States, he used to say that the Russian economy was shattered, was torn to shreds. But you have to look at the real trends, at the real state of affairs, the real state of the economy. The economy of the European Union over the last three years has grown by how many percent? Don't even think about it. It's about 3%. What about the Russian economy? It has grown by 10%. It's more than a threefold difference. The leading economies, Germany, for example, less than 1%. Last year, the Russian economy grew by 1% and it continues to grow. Of course, we have some issues when it comes to macroeconomic economy. Rising inflation, for example. The financial authorities, the Central Bank, have made decisions, harsh decisions, to suppress the growth of inflation, to reinvigorate the economic indicators. These were hard decisions to make. For example, increasing the key rate, key interest rate. But these measures bear fruit. Year on year, if we take April, for example, our economy, not fully, but it is moving toward its target indicators. 5.4% is the indicator. I think it's a good result already. At the same time, our industry is also showing good results. It is growing. The livelihoods of people are also on the rise. We're talking about 28% growth in livelihoods thanks to the real growth of salaries. We're talking about 25% growth in real salaries. We are satisfying all the social needs of Russian citizens. We are increasing the pensions, social benefits, minimum wages. Different measures to support large families by 2030. We were planning to decrease the number of people receiving less than the living wage. We wanted to decrease this number by 7%. But we have already achieved this task. Now it's 6.7%. So I remember I was talking about the quote of Mark Twain. But we see the events, the measures taken by our financial economic authorities. They bear fruit, but the Central Bank has increased the key interest rate. Now it has reduced this key rate down to 14.5%. Many people think that it is not enough and we should keep reducing the rate. I'm not going to comment on it because it's going to take a lot of time. I'm always listening to this discussion between the economic block of the government and the Central Bank. But we are achieving results and we deliberately made that understanding, mindful of the fact that the volumes of investments to capital would reduce. With such high interest rates, of course, we'll see a decrease of investments, but we did that deliberately. We tried to cool down the economy. One could say that we cooled it too much or one could say that we didn't do enough, but these were deliberate steps. We don't want inflation to go too high. We don't want dozens of percentages of inflation rates like in some countries. We don't want hyperinflation. We are fighting for the health of the Russian economy. And I would like to draw your attention to another important fact. The national debt, the state debt, is 15.6% of our GDP. What about France? They have over 100%, 112% to be more specific, more or less. But we have 15.6%. All of this gives us reason to believe that we are on the right track and we feel confident.

Reuters agency, United Kingdom. Mark Bendeich, please.

So. Only God knows whether I'll have the health, whether I and you and all gathered here will have the health to live until tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or even solve the tasks that we're faced with and achieve the goals that we're setting. Only God knows. That's how I'll begin. It is true that according to the constitution I may get reelected until 2036, but it is too early, too premature to talk about that if I'm perfectly honest. I'm not even thinking about that. I'm being perfectly honest with you. The country is facing numerous major acute challenges and they must be solved. We should be thinking about the future of Russia. That's what we should focus on. That's the first thing. Now speaking of the Ukrainian track and speaking of what was done by the president of the United States in his attempts to settle the conflict, I already said and I believe that there's nothing bad in repeating this. I think that President Trump is sincerely trying to settle the crisis in Ukraine. It is true that he, and he has confirmed this too, he said he didn't expect this would be so hard. Perhaps some steps and some things don't seem too complicated, but as soon as you start getting involved, when you delve deep into the problem, it turns out that there are too many unknowns in the process and they matter. So, now we are faced with an acute issue of settling another crisis, the Iranian crisis. Naturally, we all see this and we understand that the US administration is distracted. They are forced to tackle this issue now. Since the crisis in Ukraine is a local crisis first and foremost. Unfortunately, the European countries and the European states don't see it that way and try to give it a global meaning. However, the crisis around Iran is definitely global. Take a look at how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz affected the global economy. That's it. And naturally, the US administration is focusing more on that. However, the proposals that have been made by President Trump, as I said previously, could serve as a foundation for a peace deal. So, answering your question whether the US administration is doing the right thing or not, I think yes. They are on the right track and the proposals made by the Americans require compromises. And this would serve as a compromise for both parties, for Russia as well. And we agreed to those proposals. It is now up to Ukraine to accept that and we need to convince them. But I believe that these proposals could serve as a foundation of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and could put an end to this conflict.

I think we don't want to impose our services upon anyone. But our proposals are known to the US administration. They are known to our Iranian counterparts and partners. In 2015, Russia did play a positive role, a quite positive role. Back then, we relocated the enriched uranium to the territory of Russia from Iran. And this served as the foundation for the JCPOA. The crisis was resolved. And the then US administration supported such steps. We implemented all of that, and we de-escalated the tensions. So, then what happened? There is uranium in the territory of Iran. No one's denying that now. And what happens now? The uranium should be subject to IAEA control. And the entire global community, including the United States and Israel, from this moment on become part of the process of eliminating the highly enriched uranium, because this is under their control. The IAEA controls on paper, but everyone is involved in the IAEA activities. We have the uranium. Here's the uranium. Here's the volume. Here's the quantity. Here's the control regime. And here is the de-enrichment process. We have such capacity now, too. We could do that. And reduce the enrichment rate. But it is up to all the parties to take a decision. If they are willing to find a solution, we can do that. We did that before, and we're ready to do this now. We have good and trusting relations with Iran. This is a friendly state for us. As you know, we are carrying out the Bushehr construction project. We constructed a nuclear power block and we continue the construction work. I believe that the Iranian leadership and the people of Iran trust us. They fully trust us. By the way, in the future this uranium could be used, well, when we reduce the enrichment, this uranium could be used for peaceful purposes for nuclear power and other nuclear projects in Iran under IAEA control. At least this is one of the ways of finding a solution, and in this sense, Iran, I think, could be satisfied with this solution, and all the other stakeholders, if they have any suspicions, they should also be satisfied with such a resolution. We would present the uranium, it would be openly and transparently relocated and put under control. Then there would be no issue, as I see it. I could be misguided, but I don't see what could be the problem here. Moreover, originally, this wasn't this year, but originally everyone agreed with this plan. But then the position started to harden and we said, "All right. If you say no, we won't impose ourselves. But our proposals are still there and we are ready to provide assistance like we did back in 2015. If they say no, that's a no. But we hope that the stakeholders in this conflict would find a different solution. If there is a different solution, we'll be glad and we will welcome it. If they want something from us, we will support any steps aimed at finding a solution and would de-escalate the situation.

Mr. President, we've been working for 90 minutes. We could go on for 20 minutes. Could we take a couple more questions because the President of Uzbekistan is coming soon. We have a meeting with him. So, we have the opening of a nuclear power plant construction in Uzbekistan. I made notes to three colleagues, Martin Romanczyk, Vijay Joshi, and Jose Manuel Sanz Lodo. Three questions, friends. Please. Martin, please.

One should just ask themselves, each and everyone thinking of this should ask themselves, why? Why should Russia do that? The conflict in Ukraine was originated in the coup d'état in Ukraine and the suppression of all things Russian in Ukraine. The suppression of a major part of the population of Ukraine that did not accept the coup d'état. This is a Russian-speaking country. Even the so-called nationalists in Ukraine mostly speak Russian at home. But that's not the thing. The thing is the coup d'état was followed by domestic events in Ukraine. And at the end of the day, I will not go into detail about the Minsk agreements and so on. But in the end, we were forced to support a part of the people of Ukraine living in the territories that did not accept that coup d'état. They were trying to get these territories involved into NATO. They openly deceived everyone and you are all well aware of it. Starting from 1991, they were saying there would be not a step to the east by NATO. It was said by a secretary general. And it was said by a citizen of Germany. I can't remember the name now, but he used to be secretary general of NATO. All right, but what does Europe have to do with this? What's the point for us? What is the reason to attack Europe for Russia and wage war against NATO? This is nonsense. It's more than nonsense. This is a deliberate provocation. Provocative statements meant to establish the illusion of a threat to force the populations of these countries to spend more money on defense. And as the first step, they're forcing the population to pay for the actions of the regime that seized power in Kiev. I think that's the answer to your question. This is not just nonsense. They're provoking everyone. I'm surprised by the fact that part of the population of the European countries, surprisingly enough, believe it. This is ridiculous. It could be funny if it weren't so sad. We keep saying that one of the goals of the operation is the denazification of Ukraine. And everyone kept saying, "Keep telling us, what kind of denazification are you talking about? What is denazification?" They said that this was some nonsense made up by Russia. "Why denazify Ukraine?" they asked us. Listen, dear colleagues, everyone witnessed it, but almost no one talked about it. The reburial of nationalists, of Nazis, in Ukraine, those who throughout World War II were killing Jews, Poles, and Russians. A million people killed in Ukraine. Millions of innocent people. And now Ukraine is reburying the remains of these executioners with military honors. They're honoring them as heroes of Ukraine. Poland has had a weak reaction. Israel had an even weaker reaction. Everyone's turning a blind eye. Shamefully turning a blind eye to that. And the current head of the Kiev regime is doing that. And he's a Jew. Remember, his grandfather was fighting against Nazis. I think he's turning in his grave now. There is the organization of Ukrainian nationalists, UPA, an absolutely pro-Nazi organization. And they're naming acting regiments of the armed forces of Ukraine in honor of the organization of Ukrainian nationalists. I believe that the law says or is about to say that propaganda of Nazism is prohibited. But we should draw the attention of the Ukrainian authorities to the fact that it is not enough to put this into law. You should stick to the law. You should implement that in practice. Listen. I understand that the so-called collective West is not willing to see a stronger Russia. They want to use Ukraine to hold back Russia, to make sure we don't defend our national interests so eagerly, to put us in our place, and so on. But you must understand the threat that a revived revival of Nazism poses for everyone. The weapons from Ukraine are crawling all over the world. That's a fact. We have flourishing corruption in Ukraine all throughout the system, deeply rooted in the country. But we see the revival of Nazism, too. What will we do about it? The colleagues are saying that Ukraine should be part of the European Union or an associated member of the EU or have a different status. All right, they are free to do that. But we have the facts. Something that happened just a few days ago, the reburial of one of the Nazis in Ukraine. He personally killed Roma, Jews, Poles, Russians. A million people. These people are reburied with military honors and deadly silence everywhere. I understand that they want to use everything in the fight against Russia. Some countries want to. But this is a threat for everyone. Remember that. Now, speaking of the attack of Russia on Europe, this is nonsense. This is a way of provoking and fooling your own population to get more finances, to get more money for the fight against Russia, to secure the funds for the militarization of their economies.

I assume it's not... Of course, we are well aware of all the intricacies and all the issues concerning the border between India and Pakistan. You said that Pakistan is a country that is fully under the control of China. I don't think so. First and foremost, Pakistan is a large country. And it has multi-faceted ties with different countries. Of course, for Pakistan, it is very important to take into account the cooperation with the People's Republic of China, but everyone is developing their relations with China because it is the greatest economy in the world in terms of its GDP at PPP. India ranks third. Russia ranks fourth in terms of its GDP at PPP. It's the answer to your French colleague when I mean, to his question about the Russian economy. China, US, India, and Russia. That's the four top countries. We have outpaced the only European countries and Japan in this regard. These are delicate, multi-faceted relations between India and China. And interfering into them is not a good idea. Of course, we interact with our friends in both India and China. I'd like to point out the following. I'm not going to delve into details because this would not be appropriate. But I can tell you with certainty that President Xi and Prime Minister Modi are both trying to resolve all the issues that are of mutual interest, including when it comes to the relations on the border, and I don't have any doubts when it comes to this. As for Russia, we have our own relations with China, with India. You talked about it. And believe you me, no one holds any grudges here. For decades, we have been establishing these relations and it was happening naturally. The relations between Russia and India do not disturb China. Our relations with China do not disturb India. They do not interfere. But this linkage between the three countries helps everyone. Take BRICS for example. Do you know where it all started? It all started here in the city of St. Petersburg. At one point, I suggested that leaders of India, China, and your humble servant meet here, and that's how Russia, India, China was established. We had things to talk about, to agree upon. That's exactly what we started doing later on. Then we were joined by Brazil because Brazil wanted to take part in this three-country format. Then South Africa joined. We got BRICS. We continue to expand. When we meet, we talk, we come to an agreement. We don't have any issues in our cooperation either with India or China. We know that we have multi-faceted cooperation in military technical cooperation. We cooperate with India in terms of advanced armaments. You know the mid-range BrahMos missile, both land and sea-based BrahMos missiles. As far as Su-57 goes, at one point we proposed our Indian friends to work together on this technology. It's the fifth generation technology. I think it's the best in the world as of now. But back then, our Indian friends said, "Do it on your own and then we will see. Maybe we'll join." You know what? This aircraft could have been our joint project. We built it independently, but we are ready to work with India in this field to supply this aircraft, to keep developing it. We don't have any issues with it, any limitations. Same goes for air defense systems. But when you start talking about air defense systems, it is important. It is critical to have separate components, but it's even more important to create a system. You have to take into account different altitudes, slow and fast-moving targets. You have to also take into account that there should be one information system that would be working in real time. It's a high-end task. A complicated task. Now, we are working on updating this system. Of course, we still have issues that remain that have to be solved, but it is unique expertise that no other country has. We do have this expertise and we're ready to share this technology with our Chinese friends, with our Indian friends, and that's what we are doing. And we will keep working in this regard.

Speaking of the contacts on Cuba, I will tell you directly, a direct answer to your direct question. You asked whether we discussed this with the American administration. Yes, we did. I don't want to make any further comments on that because we do not send our oil tankers to Cuba. Cuba is a friendly state for us. Throughout decades, we have enjoyed good friendly relations. The US administration is well aware of that. Our contacts with Cuba continue. Now, speaking of stopping the hostilities as a precondition for talks, there is no need to stop hostilities to start talks. No need. We did have talks already. And hostilities continued as we were having these talks. Here's the issue. Let us be honest and frank. I have already said that there are fundamental factors to the conflict. I talked about it when I answered the question from the American colleague. There are a number of conditions that we're talking about. The Russian forces are on the offensive. Every day, if you look carefully at the events, you will see that the Russian armed forces are taking more and more localities and territories under their own control. 2.5 thousand square kilometers recently have been taken under control of the Russian army. 2,440 thousand square kilometers. Under these conditions, Ukraine would prefer that we stop the offensive. Take a look at the Zaporizhzhia region. We take 1.2 or 1.3 square kilometers every day or 800 square meters. We go deeper along the front line. Of course, we want to stop that. But it would be better to stop the war itself, accepting the compromises that were discussed in Anchorage. That's the better option. Please.

Did you... Are you talking about Russia's actions in the territory of the European countries?

This does not mean anything. This only means one thing. This only means that certain political figures in the West and Western European countries are trying to enact aggressive plans against the Russian Federation. You mentioned certain attempts of cyberattacks, assassination attempts, and so on. And you said that these are only the proven facts, revealed facts. But what are the specific facts? What has been proven? What did one of the prime ministers of the UK say about it? Let me remember the wording. She said "highly likely," I believe. That's what she said. Yes, exactly. All you said is in the "highly likely" category. Where is the proof? Where are the facts? There is none. They are simply not willing to talk to Russia as an equal partner, but they will have to do that. We're in no hurry. Even if we took nine pregnant women together, nine women cannot give birth to a child in one month. The situation takes its time. And I think that's where we're moving. I think the situation is maturing slowly, but we're getting there. We are ready. We should stop the mutual accusations. If there is a will on the European side to work with us, then they should cast away their colonial thinking. They should talk to Russia as an equal partner. And together we shall seek options for finding solutions, complicated solutions for complex issues that have to be resolved in the interests of Russia and the European partners. We are ready for it. Thank you very much.

Wait, wait. We cannot ignore the women, please.

If even if we ask the US administration, they wouldn't answer that. I don't think they have the final answer to this question. But there is no doubt that the people of Iran have proven that its interests should be taken into account as such crises are resolved. The people of Iran have shown cohesion and their will to fight. This is a factor that undoubtedly should be taken into account as we find a solution to this crisis. Naturally, this is a politically complicated situation for us given the fact that over the past decades, we have established very good neighborly and friendly relations with the Arab countries and the countries of the Persian Gulf. We maintain contacts with our Iranian friends and we have always emphasized throughout these contacts from the very beginning, we have been saying, especially since this took place during Ramadan, we said that we called upon our Iranian friends to refrain from any military actions against other Islamic countries especially during the holy month of Ramadan. However, the larger dynamics of the events were different. We believe that the efforts of the US administration and the efforts of President Trump and the consistent position of the Iranian spiritual leader aimed at defending the national interests of his country and aimed at seeking compromise, and we do see that both sides are seeking such compromises. And so we hope that this would end up in a positive result. The conflict would be over. If there is anything that Russia could do, we are always ready to provide assistance. If not, we would only welcome the end of the conflict along with everyone. These are mere speculations saying that Russia is presumably the only stakeholder and the only beneficiary from the rising prices of energy resources. It is true, the prices are rising. We see that and we understand it. However, to a certain extent, our companies do benefit from that. But this is only temporary and short-lived. We are seeking long-term stable relations with everyone based on mutual interests. And in this case, our interest is ending the conflict as soon as possible. We welcome the fact that despite certain difficulties, a ceasefire has been established, a certain truce. And we do everything we can to assist in resolving the conflict in general. We maintain contacts with all our friends. Let me repeat, we will do everything we can. And if needed, we will provide our assistance in order to end the conflict. That's it. Thank you very much.