Question: A question for the President of the Council of CIS Heads of State. Given that there are very serious and complicated conflicts taking place on CIS territory, how do you see the Commonwealth’s future development?
President Vladimir Putin: It is clear that we will not be able to effectively develop our organisation if we do not settle these conflicts. But settling them will require a balanced approach, patience and willingness to compromise.
Question: Did you discuss the issue of Abkhazia, and what decisions were taken? What is Russia’s stand on the issue?
Vladimir Putin: Please be more specific in your question if you want a specific answer.
Question: Do you think that Russia’s unilateral decision to reopen the Moscow-Sukhumi rail link goes against the CIS charter, and will it not make Russian-Georgian relations even more tense?
Vladimir Putin: Those are the kind of specifics I was looking for and I will now answer your question. I prefer to give a direct answer to this kind of direct question.
We are firmly convinced that the way to settle conflicts is through negotiations and through taking into account the interests of all the parties concerned by the situation that has developed in some parts of the CIS.
We believe that economic pressure, and even more so military pressure, will not solve the problem. In other words, this is not the road that will lead us to peace. That is as far as the substance goes.
As for the formal, legal aspects, it is our view that all previous decisions, today’s decisions, and the 1996 decision, do not impose restrictions on the commercial activities of non-state organisations.
Furthermore, I spoke in Sochi with the previous President of Georgia about synchronising transport links with the return of refugees, above all with the return of refugees to the Galsky District. According to estimates made by independent experts, some 50,000–60,000 refugees have now returned home.
Finally, this railroad has been functioning since 2002. It is in a truly lamentable state. The Russian company Russian Railways has had no choice but to carry out repair work on the line, though I do not know what amount.
I know that my Georgian colleagues and friends are raising these questions, and I will discuss all of them with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at a separate meeting following this press conference.
Question: If the negotiations format for settling the Trans-Dniestr conflict is changed, would this complicate Russia and Ukraine’s relations with Moldova?
Vladimir Putin: Just enlarging the number of participants in the negotiating process is not in itself a guarantee of a successful outcome. Overall, we are not opposed to this idea, which Moldova sees as the most acceptable means of achieving the ultimate objective.
But the greater the number of participants, the greater the number of opinions. There is the risk of the negotiating process becoming just a talking shop that will drag on for years if not decades and could even still be going in the next century. I do not think that Moldova has any interest in such a turn of events.
Question: We have heard the word “terrorism” many times today. Do you all give this word the same sense, understand it the same way, or do you give it different meanings?
Vladimir Putin: As far as I have noticed, none of my colleagues have diverging views on how to define the word “terrorist”. Terrorists are bandits who, using political, religious and nationalist slogans as a cover, pursue aims that have nothing in common with their publicly proclaimed objectives.
The methods they use make it unacceptable for civilised people to have any dealings with them and enter into negotiations with them. No aims justify their means and methods. All of humanity has come to take a single approach to this issue, a single approach.
It is very important for us, and I agree here with my CIS colleagues, that there should be no double standards in the world when it comes to terrorism, and that not only should we share the same definitions, we should be talking about the same things and on these grounds should be able to unite our efforts in the fight against terrorism.
Ben Laden, say, twice proposes Europe a ceasefire in exchange for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. But no one so much as contemplates the possibility of entering into negotiations with him because the entire civilised world considers that the means used by Ben Laden and his organisation make it impossible for people in today’s civilised world to discuss anything at all with him. In other words, there are people with whom one does not negotiate.
It is our firm conviction that the bestiality we saw in Beslan gives us the full moral right to insist that those against whom we in Russia are fighting are part of the international terrorist “international”. And as we know, the only approach that works with them is one of consistency, united effort, legality and firmness.
Question: Could you please give an objective appraisal of the last year? What kind of year was it for the CIS under Ukraine’s chairmanship? Was it a step forward, a step backward, or was it just a standstill?
Vladimir Putin: It was a year of good, successful and constructive work together. We made progress on a number of economic issues and this was to a considerable extent thanks to the Ukrainian President’s efforts and his chairmanship. We settled a number of problems regarding the organisation of our work in some of the most sensitive areas such as terrorism, the fight against organised crime and illegal migration. You have all noticed the agreements that we drafted and adopted at this summit, but I think that it is in economic cooperation that we have made our most significant achievements and it was the Ukrainian President’s determination to settle a number of issues that enabled us to reach constructive decisions.