Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.
Sometimes it is necessary to be lonely in order to prove that you are right.
Terrorism has no nationality or religion.
We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.
We need business to understand its social responsibility, that the main task and objective for a business is not to generate extra income and to become rich and transfer the money abroad, but to look and evaluate what a businessman has done for the country, for the people, on whose account he or she has become so rich.
One has to be insincere and promise something which you cannot fulfill. So you either have to be a fool who does not understand what you are promising, or deliberately be lying.
My personal position is that society must keep children safe.
Those who fight corruption should be clean themselves.
I don't read books by people who have betrayed the Motherland.
The centuries-old history and culture of India, majestic architectural monuments and museums of Delhi, Agra and Mumbai have a unique attractive force.
He who does not regret the break-up of the Soviet Union has no heart; he who wants to revive it in its previous form has no head.
It's a historical phenomenon that in 250 years, a nation could move from a colony into the most prosperous nation of the world and the leader of the world. It is indeed an achievement, a tribute to the talent of the American nation, the American people and an optimal political and economic system.
Everything will probably never be OK. But we have to try for it.
The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness toward a partner but rather taking into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests.
If you aspire to be a leader of your own country, you must speak your own language, for God's sake.
My English is very bad.
Iraq is a small but very proud nation.
I think the American people should express their preferences, and we'll accept their choice.
I think every person should have some faith inside him, in his heart. What matters is not an external display of this faith, but the inner state of the soul.
How does one control weight? By not overeating. How does one stay in shape? One plays sports. There are no magic pills here.
The United States and Russian security services regularly exchange information.
The Russian people have unilaterally made their choice in direction of democracy in the early '90s. They will not be led astray. Nobody should be having any doubts.
Russia and China are very natural partners. We are neighbors with an immense common border.
Russian democracy is the power of the Russian people with their own traditions of national self-government, and not the realisation of standards foisted on us from outside.
In the modern world, those who are weak will get unambiguous advice from foreign visitors which way to go and what policy course to pursue.
A considerable share of the world's population still cannot afford comfortable housing, education and quality health care.
Politics should not interfere with sports. And sports should impact politics.
I think the international community should unite to fight such inhuman phenomena as terror attacks and the murder of totally innocent people.
I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.
No one should be allowed to violently trample on the law.
My parents told me that children were taken from their families in 1941, and my mother had a child taken from her - with the goal of saving him.
The more intermediaries there are, the more problems there are.
Radicals can be found in any environment.
If the nation is not capable of preserving itself and reproducing, if it loses it vital bearings and ideals, then it doesn't need foreign enemies - it will fall apart on its own.
All attempts to appease the Nazis between 1934 and 1939 through various agreements and pacts were morally unacceptable and politically senseless, harmful and dangerous.
I believe that the presidential term should be limited.
President Obama hasn't been elected by the American people in order to be pleasant to Russia.
It's alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States.
You must obey the law, always, not only when they grab you by your special place.
Indeed, Russia and the U.S. were allies during the two tragic conflicts of the Second and the First World Wars, which allows us to think there's something objectively bringing us together in difficult times, and I think - I believe - it has to do with geopolitical interests and also has a moral component.
I see that not everyone in the West has understood that the Soviet Union has disappeared from the political map of the world and that a new country has emerged with new humanist and ideological principles at the foundation of its existence.
Where in the world have you seen construction people who do everything on time, with good quality and at minimal prices? Just give me one country like that. A country like that doesn't exist in the world, you know. There's not one such country anywhere in the world.
I have never stated Russia is an energy superpower, but we have more reserves than almost anybody else. We have always behaved, and we will continue to behave, in a responsible way. We intend to participate in the elaboration of common rules in the energy sector and to abide by rules which are developed together.
The growing economic potential of India and Russia is mutually complementary in many respects.
The leaders of the world's largest economies agreed during the November 2008 G20 summit not to create barriers hindering global trade and capital flows. Russia shares these principles.
Libya is divided into tribes and clans.
Demographers affirm that choosing to have a second child is already a potential choice in favour of a third.
Russia does not and cannot have any political choice but democracy. I want to say, and even stress, that we share those universal democratic principles taken around the whole world.
I spend a little time every day to play sports.
The Russian people have their own cultural code, their own tradition.
If there are people who act outside the law, then the state must use legal means to impose law in the interests of majority. That's the way it's done in the U.S., and that's the way it's done in Russia.
It's Russia some people would like to get rid of. They are still afraid of our nuclear deterrent. We have our own foreign policy whether they like it or not.
McCain fought in Vietnam - I think that he has enough civilian blood on his hands.
U.S. society doesn't want to play the role of international policeman.
As far as oligarchs who acquire sports team abroad, and invest money abroad, I wouldn't treat this phenomenon as something bad.
Protest actions and propaganda are two slightly different things.
The state security bodies should not be seen as an institution that works against society and the state; one needs to understand what makes them work against their own people.
For Russia, there is not and there may not be another political option but democracy. However, Russian democracy is... not at all the realization of standards imposed on us from outside.
How can a bureaucrat or a politician be trusted if he says loud words for the sake of Russia's good while trying to take his funds, his money abroad?
I believe the U.S. already understands and will understand more and more that only a strong Russia will respond to the genuine interests of the United States.
Political activities in Russia should be as transparent as possible. Financing political activities from abroad is something the state should keep an eye on.
The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history.
The democratic choice Russian people made in the early 90's is final.
What is a uni-polar world? No matter how we beautify this term, it means one single centre of power, one single centre of force and one single master.
Russia does not want confrontation of any kind. And we will not take part in any kind of 'holy alliance.'
I am convinced that the norm in Russia should become a family with three children.
At a certain point, we saw the police cracking down on the Occupy Wall Street activists. I won't call the actions of police appropriate or inappropriate.
Despite all the achievements of civilisation, the human being is still one of the most vulnerable creatures on earth.
Economic activity is moving from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean... Russia has a certain natural advantage because it also borders the Pacific Ocean.
I would prefer to abandon the terminology of the past. 'Superpower' is something which we used during the cold war time. Why use it now?
We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the society as a whole.
Between major countries, there certainly always are some common ground and points of tension.
Russia is opposed to the proliferation of mass destruction weapons, including nuclear weapons, and in this context we call upon our Iranian friends to abandon the uranium enrichment programme.
Cromwell is just as much of a bloody dictator as was Stalin.
What is a Rechtsstaat? It is obedience to the existing law.
Few people understand the magnitude of the catastrophe that happened late in the 1980s when the Communist Party had failed to modernize the Soviet Union.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in Russia, unlike in one third of the world's countries, being gay is not a crime.
You need to put drones under control; you need to lay out certain rules of engagement in order to prevent or minimize collateral casualties. It is extremely important.
I was brought up in a very ordinary family, in fact, a worker's family. Both my father and mother were ordinary citizens.
No references to the need to fight terror can be an argument for restricting human rights.
Our society, including the liberals, must understand that there must be order.
The Russian people and Russian culture are the linchpin, the glue that binds together this unique civilization.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the issues of foreign policy and defense are fully in the hands of the president.
At last, Russia has returned to the world arena as a strong state - a country that others heed and that can stand up for itself.
I am not prejudiced in any way.
One can truly enjoy his or her life only while experiencing it, and it is inevitably related to a certain level of risk.
The whole world recognizes Russia's cultural achievements. It is impossible to imagine the world culture without Russian culture, without our music and literature.
The Eurasian union is a project meant to preserve the identities of nations and the historic Eurasian community in the new century, in a new world.
It is necessary to suppress any extremist actions, on all sides, regardless of their origin.
Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.
The United States has overstepped its borders in all spheres - economic, political and humanitarian - and has imposed itself on other states.
At least in Russia, you cannot just go and tap into someone's phone conversation without a warrant issued by court. That's more or less the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.
China is a great country with a great culture, populated by fascinating, industrious and talented people.
Our military might is the guarantor of Russia's security and independence.
We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.
A figure who receives money from abroad for his political work, and thus serves some foreign interest, cannot be a politician in Russia.
It is wrong to make anyone into an enemy; it is wrong to scare the people of one's own country with that enemy and try to rally some allies on that basis.
Russia is a part of European culture. Therefore, it is with difficulty that I imagine NATO as an enemy.
Our aims are absolutely clear: They are a high living standard in the country and a secure, free and comfortable life.
I'm eternally grateful to fate and the citizens of Russia that they've trusted me to be the head of the Russian government.
It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation.
The transfer of power is always a test of the constitutional system, a test of its strength.
The strengthening of our statehood is, at times, deliberately interpreted as authoritarianism.
