© Alexei Nikolsky/press service of the Russian President/TASS
On the Showtime held a screening of the Oliver stone movie “Interview with Putin” — a documentary film created on the basis of 30 hours of dialogue directed with the President of Russia. TASS has selected key quotes Vladimir Putin aired.
On the appointment of a successor to Yeltsin
“I don’t know why Yeltsin stopped the choice on me. But when I Yeltsin proposed the first time, I refused… Said it’s a big responsibility, it must change the whole of my life, and I’m not sure I’m ready for it. One thing to be a civil servant, even of high rank, you can live the life of an almost ordinary person, to visit, to go freely to the cinema, to the theatre, to chat with friends. And do not carry a personal responsibility for everything that happens in the country, for the fate of millions of people. And to take responsibility in that situation for Russia is (was) a very difficult case.”
About how the philosophy of judo helps him in life
“The basic idea is a flexible way. You can and should be flexible. Sometimes you just have to give in, but only if this is the path to victory.”
About the U.S. determination to change regimes
“You know, the thing… These ideas — they are not dead. And when we started to have problems in Chechnya, in the Caucasus, unfortunately, the Americans supported these processes. The cold war is gone, we (were) clear, transparent relations with the entire world: to Europe, with the United States. Of course, we counted on the support. Instead, we saw that the American intelligence agencies just support terrorists. And I’ll tell you now, in my opinion, the important thing: we have formed the strong opinion that our American partners on the words talking about the support of Russia, talking about cooperation, including in combating terrorism, and in fact use these terrorists for the buildup of the political situation in Russia.”
About Trump
“He found those strings in the hearts of people who it could affect. And no, I don’t think will be able to cast doubt on the results. Instead, those who lost would have to draw conclusions from their own activity, from how work is organized, and not look for reasons on the side”.