Question: During your visit to Mongolia on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, you highlighted the long history of mutually beneficial relations and friendship between our countries and signed a Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. What is your assessment of the treaty implementation? Have there been any changes in the relationship between our countries over the past two years?
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Shortly before my next visit to friendly Mongolia, I would like to share my vision of the history, current state and the future of bilateral relations on the pages of your authoritative newspaper.
I would like to point out from the outset that the development of comprehensive and mutually beneficial partnership with Mongolia, our close neighbour and old friend, has always been and remains among the priorities of Russia’s foreign policy in Eurasia.
Our states and peoples are linked by decades of fruitful cooperation in nearly all areas. I would like to remind that our country was the first in the world to recognise Mongolia’s independence in 1921 and for a long time remained the only guarantor of its sovereignty and security. During the summer of 1939 – a critical period for Mongolia – the USSR, which remained committed to its duty as an ally under the Protocol on Mutual Assistance of March 12, 1936, immediately responded to the Mongolian government's request for assistance in repelling the Japanese aggression in the battles on the river Khalkin Gol. Over 10,000 Red Army soldiers and commanders sacrificed their lives in that battle for Mongolia’s freedom and independence. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the noble and selfless labour of Russian and Mongolian volunteers who continue their work today to identify and bury the remains of the fallen heroes.
Symbolically, the new interstate treaty, which formalised our bilateral relations as those of comprehensive strategic partnership, was signed on September 3, 2019, in Ulaanbaatar on the sidelines of the events marking the 80th anniversary of our joint victory over the Japanese militarists at Khalkhin Gol. I am planning to take part in the upcoming anniversary celebrations in your capital these days.
Our rich and multifaceted common history is reflected in other landmark dates that we celebrate this year: the 75th anniversary of the flagship project of our economic cooperation, the Ulaanbaatar Railway, the 65th anniversary since the beginning of the development of virgin lands in Mongolia involving Soviet specialists, and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the city of Erdenet. Of course, the Russian people remember with gratitude the support Mongolia offered us during the Great Patriotic War and commemorates joint battles to defeat the Kwantung Army in the summer of 1945.
Today, Russia and Mongolia further develop the invaluable traditions of friendship, good neighbourliness and mutual assistance. For instance, this year alone, Russia has supplied over 8,500 tonnes of grain forage to Mongolian livestock farms affected by severe colds and snowfalls, and the Mongolian Government has allocated funding to mitigate the aftermath of the floods in the Ural area.
It is important that our bilateral partnership in all key areas is progressing at a good pace. Political contacts, cooperation in the sphere of defence and security, interaction between parliaments, parties and public organisations, humanitarian exchanges, cross-border and interregional ties are developing successfully.
In recent years, we have been working on a number of new promising economic and industrial projects, including the construction of the Trans-Mongolian gas pipeline connecting Russia and China, works to modernise and increase the performance of the Ulaanbaatar Railway joint venture, the Rosneft Corporation’s fuel supplies for the fuelling complex at the new Chinggis Khaan international airport, and the renovation of TPP-3 in Ulaanbaatar with the participation of INER RAO – Export.
We always respond to our Mongolian friends’ requests for assistance in meeting the growing needs for fuel and lubricants at preferential prices. Work is underway to finalise a corresponding intergovernmental agreement.
With Russia's involvement, in less than a year, significant progress has been made in drafting a temporary free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Mongolia, which makes it possible to increase the supply of goods from your traditional export list to the markets of Eurasian Economic Union member states.
I will add that we have always paid special attention to providing training for Mongolian specialists. This year alone, Russia has allocated 620 state-funded places for Mongolian students at Russian universities. We know that the interest of the Mongolian youth in Russian education has traditionally been high. It is certainly important that you love and learn the Russian language in Mongolia, and that the system of teaching the Russian language has been well developed over many decades. This has offered and continues to offer great opportunities for learning, expanding business, scientific and cultural ties with Russia and the CIS countries.
Everything I have mentioned, along with many other things, is part of our joint efforts with our Mongolian friends to implement the provisions of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. I am convinced that constructive cooperation between Russia and Mongolia will grow more substantial and multifaceted and serve for the benefit of our peoples.
Question: During the Economic Forum held in Davos in January 2024, Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrain emphasised the importance of holding a Russia–Mongolia–China trilateral summit. However, in July 2024, a trilateral meeting was held at the level of foreign ministers. Can we expect a trilateral meeting of the heads of state in the near future?
Vladimir Putin: Ten years ago, together with our Chinese counterparts, we supported the Mongolian initiative to establish a Russia–Mongolia–China trilateral cooperation mechanism. On September 11, 2014, the first such summit was held in Dushanbe on the sidelines of the meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council.
Over the past years, we have laid a solid foundation to underpin the development of comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation. In 2015, together with our colleagues, we approved the relevant ‘roadmap’ to cover virtually all key areas: politics, the economy, science and technology, education and culture, and foreign policy issues. In 2016, our relevant national agencies signed the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor programme, which seeks primarily to maximise the unique transit potential of your country and create the environment to achieve synergy between the Eurasian Economic Union, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, and the Mongolian Steppe Road Initiative.
Following the forced pause caused by the coronavirus pandemic, on September 15, 2022, our sixth in-person summit took place in Samarkand. Since then, for technical reasons related to the mismatch of working schedules, we failed to hold another summit. However, we believe that this mechanism is highly important and relevant. Russia is certainly interested in pursuing substantive work in this trilateral format.
Question: Will Russia put forward any proposals or initiatives to make the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor and the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project more beneficial for Mongolia's economy and infrastructure development?
Vladimir Putin: I am convinced that progress in bilateral, let alone trilateral, cooperation can only be achieved if it is beneficial to all the parties involved.
As you know, the initiative to create the Russia–Mongolia–China Economic Corridor was initially put forward by the leadership of your country as part of the Mongolian Steppe Road Initiative implementation. Among the achievements, I can refer to the fact that over the past ten years, the freight traffic on the Ulaanbaatar Railway increased by half to reach a record figure 32.4 million tonnes in 2023. Transit container cargo transportation between Russia and China through the territory of Mongolia has also increased significantly.
Over the recent years, all Mongolian presidents, regardless of their party affiliation, have raised during negotiations the issue of building a main gas pipeline from Russia to China through Mongolia. In 2021 it was decided to embark on preparatory work. A specialised joint company, Soyuz Vostok Gas Pipeline, was established, which is carrying out design and exploration works in line with the approved schedule. Work continues on the design of the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline stretching over 960 kilometres: in January 2022, a feasibility study for this project was approved, the necessary engineering surveys and studies were carried out, and in late December 2023, the project documentation was finalised.
By the way, while initially our Mongolian partners preferred to limit themselves to being just a transit country, now they are considering using some of the cheap pipeline gas to support the development of their economy and infrastructure.
Question: As a result of constitutional amendments and changes to the electoral system, members of four political parties and one coalition were elected to the current Mongolian Parliament, and the party that won the majority had to form a three-party government, rather than a government of its own. What is your assessment of this new page in Mongolia’s political life?
Vladimir Putin: First of all, I would like to note that the regular elections to the State Great Khural in June were held successfully. The electoral process was organised at a very high level, as was confirmed, inter alia, by Russian observers sent to Mongolia.
We respect the choice of the Mongolian people. As far as I remember, this is by no means the first time Mongolia has had a coalition government. I am confident that the cabinet reshuffle will not affect our countries' mutual desire to further develop our comprehensive strategic partnership and expand our bilateral cooperation.
Question: The freedom of press is currently of critical concern in our country. Russia has also banned some of the country's media outlets. At the same time, Western countries have banned mainstream Russian media and restricted access to them on social media. How, in your opinion, can we strike a balance between freedom of the press and national security?
Vladimir Putin: Indeed, almost all Western countries where our journalists try to work, are creating obstacles for them, banning Russian television channels and directly censoring our media and online resources. Certainly, this runs counter to the democratic principles of freedom of speech and free flow of information. Yet all our media do is convey and explain Russia's point of view on current pressing issues and global processes. As they do so, they act in a respectful way and comply with the norms of morality and ethics as well as national legislation of each particular country. So the West, which claims to be a model of freedom, has opted to hide from inconvenient facts and the truth by launching a blatant bullying campaign against Russian journalists and indiscriminately labelling them as ‘Kremlin propagandists.’
In Russia, the mass media are free. This is solidly guaranteed by our Constitution. We are convinced that pluralism and openness in the information space are vital. Our authorities cooperate constructively with television channels, news agencies, newspapers, online media and other media outlets, regardless of their editorial policy. The only thing they are required to do is to comply with Russian laws. This should be understood by foreign journalists accredited in Russia. That is the way to strike the necessary balance between the freedom of press and ensuring national security that you have mentioned.
Question: Russian athletes have been banned from participating in the 2024 Olympic Games under their country's flag, while Israel has not been subjected to any restrictions. What do you think is the reason for such a differentiated approach?
Vladimir Putin: The current leaders of the International Olympic Committee, acting at the behest of the collective West – primarily the United States – are flagrantly flouting the Olympic ideals they should be defending. Instead of promoting the rights of athletes, the integrity and universality of the Olympic movement, they are clinging to their social position, power and personal prosperity.
Our athletes are excluded from the competitions, our national symbols are banned. It has come to the point where the words ‘Russia’ and ‘Russian’ are completely expunged from international tournaments. All of this blatantly violates the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter, which states that sport, which should bring people together, and not divide them, should not be politicised. Until recently, this was cited as the reason why the Olympic Games should be kept open and accessible to all athletes without exception, regardless of their citizenship, race, ethnicity or political beliefs.
Russia strongly believes that sport should be kept politically neutral and recognises that is has a great role to play in strengthening people-to-people ties, establishing mutually respectful communication, forging relations between states and peoples in the spirit of peace and good neighbourliness, equality and non-discrimination. Therefore, we will pursue more democracy in the sports movement, strive to remove artificial barriers and restrictions, and expand the range of national and international sporting events.
Question: Your interview to American journalist Tucker Carlson in February this year began with a historical background of Russia and modern Ukraine. When talking about previous Russian leaders' decisions on Ukraine, you repeatedly said they cannot be understood. Do you mean that the current state of relations between Russia and Ukraine has been brought about by Russia's mistakes in domestic politics as well as external political moves?
Vladimir Putin: The current situation in Ukraine has been significantly influenced by a whole range of external and internal factors. Soviet leaders' decisions on the national and territorial issues also had their negative effect.
I would like to remind that the process of the creation of Ukraine started immediately after the 1917 revolution, when unstable and fragile quasi-state formations without clear borders emerged in that territory. Later on, the boundaries of the constituent USSR republics were marked rather randomly, based on the ‘proletarian necessity.’ Thus, the industrial Donbass populated predominantly by Russians was handed over to Ukraine. Subsequently, just before and after the Great Patriotic War, Joseph Stalin gave to Ukraine, as an inalienable part of the Soviet Union, certain lands that had earlier belonged to Poland, Romania and Hungary. In 1954, Nikita Khrushchev made a generous present to Ukraine by giving it Crimea, which had been part of the RSFSR.
It should be understood that the Soviet leaders acted under the geopolitical realities of their time, not expecting at all that the USSR would cease to exist and break down along artificially drawn internal administrative boundaries. So no doubt, the current developments do have historical roots.
At the same time, the main reason for today’s tragic situation in Ukraine is the deliberate anti-Russia policy pursued by the US-led collective West. For decades, they have sought total control over Ukraine. They funded nationalist and anti-Russia organisations there; they persistently worked to convince Ukraine that Russia was its eternal enemy and the main threat to its existence. Ukraine virtually turned into a bargaining chip that the West used to achieve its geopolitical ambitions.
In 2014, the Americans and their satellites organised an armed coup d'état in Ukraine. It was inspired and driven by radical neo-Nazi groups, which subsequently came to determine Kiev’s government policy in general. For many years, millions of civilians in Donbass have had to survive genocide, shelling and blockade on the part of the Kiev regime. The hatred for everything Russian has become Ukraine’s official ideology. The use of the Russian language has been increasingly restricted, and the canonical Orthodoxy has been subjected to persecution, which now has come to the point of a direct ban.
What we see today is the natural outcome of the destructive strategy of the West towards Ukraine. On top of that, Western elites continue to lend a large‑scale political, financial and military support to the current regime, regarding it as a weapon against Russia. We are well aware of that and will keep struggling to achieve all the tasks of the special military operation in order to ensure the security of Russia and its citizens.