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You know, we should be grateful primarily to our aides,

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our staff who have been interacting with each other not only recently 

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to prepare this meeting, but for months before that.

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I am referring to the work of our agencies in the spheres of special 

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concern for the United States and Russia, primarily counterterrorism.

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President Trump and I pointed out today that terrorism is a bigger 

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threat than it may seem at first glance.

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If the worse comes to the worst, God forbid,

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and terrorists lay their hands on weapons of mass 

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destruction, the consequences will be terrible.

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Our military and special services are building relations in this sphere 

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of crucial importance for our countries.

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A case in point is our cooperation in Syria,

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even though we do not fully agree on the global goal 

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and ways to achieve it.

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However, we maintain cooperation between our militaries 

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and special services.

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Their work concerns the fight against terrorism 

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in the broad meaning of the word.

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Then, the New START treaty will expire in 2021.

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What should we do about this? I assured President Trump that Russia is 

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ready to extend this treaty, but we definitely need to discuss details.

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We have questions we need to ask our American partners.

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We believe that the United States does not fully comply with this 

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treaty, but this should be discussed at the expert level.

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We also talked about Iran’s nuclear programme.

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We talked about what we can do to improve the situation in North Korea.

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I have said this before, but I will repeat that I believe President 

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Trump has done a great deal to promote the settlement of this conflict.

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However, we will need international guarantees to attain complete 

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denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

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Russia is ready to contribute towards this to the extent 

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that will be required.

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Therefore, it can be said that we can see eye to eye on these 

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and several other issues of concern to us.

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This allows us to say that much has changed for the better 

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during our meeting today.

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And you can see that these efforts did not work out,

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and they could not have worked out,

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considering Russia’s size and importance in the world,

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including in the sphere of global security,

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as well as in the economy if we consider at least 

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the energy component of the global economy.

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I believe that our understanding of the things that unite us 

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and the things we should work on together is prompting us to admit that 

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we must stop fighting each other and should instead join forces to deal 

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with common problems in the fight against shared concerns,

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so as to overcome these concerns.

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Therefore, I believe that this is the beginning. It is a start.

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I believe we have given a good start to this today.

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Let me start my answer to your question from a different angle.

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Look, everyone is talking about Russia’s alleged 

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interference in your election campaign.

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I said this in 2016, but I would like to repeat this today,

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and I would like the American audience to hear my reply.

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First, Russia as a state has never interfered in the internal affairs 

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of the United States, let alone elections.

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I will answer your question, have patience and you will 

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hear a comprehensive answer.

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As for interference in the internal affairs of the United States.

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Do you really think that it was possible to influence US elections from 

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Russia, to influence the choice of millions of Americans? 

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This is ridiculous.

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I will answer you now, if you bear with me,

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you will hear my answer. This was the first thing.

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Second, I said this in 2016, and I want to repeat it again now.

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What was the problem? It concerned the hacking 

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of a Democratic candidate’s email.

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Did this attack involve manipulation with facts? This is very 

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important. I want the Americans to hear this.

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Did anyone manipulate with the facts or plant fake information? No.

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The hackers involved – don’t worry, I will get back to your question –

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read that candidate’s emails and learned about manipulations within 

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the Democratic Party in favour of one of the candidates. That is all.

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As far as I remember, the leaders of the party’s executive 

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bodies resigned. It means that they admitted this fact.

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I believe this is the crucial thing.

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You must stop manipulating public opinion and apologise to the voters 

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for what was done, rather than keep looking for those who 

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allegedly did this.

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Now back to these issues.

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I said at the news conference, and I can repeat this now. Mr Mueller…

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Listen to me. There is nothing false in the information at my disposal.

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Everything it says is true, and the leadership 

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of the Democratic Party has admitted it. This is the first thing.

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Second, if you do not like my answer, please say so,

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and I will say no more.

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But if you want the American people to know my opinion,

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then have patience.

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As for the specific accusations,

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Mr Mueller has brought charges against a Russian company,

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a small business working primarily in the catering 

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industry. I have spoken about this before.

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This company has hired American attorneys to protect its 

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name in an American court.

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This court has not yet found any trace of interference by this company.

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Do you know about this or not? Let the millions 

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of Americans know about this as well.

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Now for the [Russian] citizens mentioned here.

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We have a treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters,

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a valid treaty that was signed in 1999.

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It has been applied quite effectively.

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I cited an example of its effective application.

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Why cannot Mr Mueller and his colleagues…

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You are doing this.

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Why cannot Mr Mueller send an official request to us within 

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the framework of this treaty? Under this treaty,

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Russian investigators could question all the individuals that our 

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American colleagues suspect of something. I have said this before.

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Why has none of this been done to this day? This is surprising.

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Nobody has sent an official request to us…

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This does not concern me. These are your internal political games.

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Do not hold Russia-US relations hostage to your political infighting.

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By the way, it is obvious to me that this case has been used 

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for internal political fighting,

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and this is nothing to be proud of for US democracy.

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Using law enforcement agencies for political infighting is inadmissible.

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I have said what I think regarding this fact.

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Please, send us an official request…

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I do not want to assess his work. It is not for me to do this.

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Let the Congress which appointed him do this.

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By the way, the court is not sure that Mr Mueller has been appointed 

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as special counsel in full compliance with American legislation.

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According to the court, he was appointed to his current 

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position in violation of the law. But it is no concern of mine.

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You deal with it yourself.

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As for suspicions and charges, a procedure is stipulated in the above 

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treaty which you can use to send requests.

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Of course.

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First, about why we talked as cultured people should.

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Why does this come as a surprise? Did we need to meet, go to Helsinki,

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Mr Trump across the ocean and I from Moscow to abuse and throw mud 

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at each other? This is not how things are done 

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in the global diplomatic practice.

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There is no need to meet if you only want to quarrel 

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and worsen relations.

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We met to find ways to improve our relations,

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not to destroy them completely. This is the first part of my answer.

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The second part concerns the compromising materials you asked about.

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No, we have no compromising materials and cannot have any.

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I do not want President Trump to take offence,

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and I do not want to sound impolite,

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but we had no interest in him until he announced his 

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decision to run for president.

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He is a wealthy man, but there are many wealthy people 

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in the United States.

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He was in the construction business and organised beauty pageants.

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Nobody ever thought he would be elected president.

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He never indicated that he had any political ambitions.

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So the idea of compromising materials is nonsense.

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As you know, I said at the news conference that 550 American business 

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leaders visited St Petersburg [International Economic Forum],

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and every one of them is more important than Mr Trump used to be.

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Do you think that we put pressure on each of them,

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that our secret services shadow them,

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spy on them and tap their conversations?

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First, we do not do this, unlike you. Do not judge others by yourself.

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Second, we do not have the funds,

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resources or personnel to spy on everyone.

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This is just not in our plans.

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It is simply impossible, and we certainly did nothing 

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of this kind with regard to Mr Trump.

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The situation in NATO is as follows.

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I know about the decision-making mechanism used in the bloc.

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Of course, its decisions are taken by consensus,

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but before taking them, individual NATO members can be contacted 

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on a bilateral basis, as it was done with regard to Poland and Romania,

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which now host elements of the US strategic missile defence system.

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This poses a direct threat to our national security.

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Therefore, the advancement of NATO infrastructure towards our borders 

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poses a threat, and our reaction to it will be extremely negative.

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No, we did not discuss this, although it is an issue of concern for us.

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The NATO infrastructure is expanding,

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and the number of NATO servicemen in the regions where there should not 

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be any has increased by 10,000 people.

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Under the Founding Act on relations between Russia and NATO,

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there must be no servicemen there.

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It is certainly a destabilising factor.

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We must take it into account in our relations.

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But President Trump and I did not talk about this today.

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A war is in progress and this is the most horrible thing 

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that can happen to humankind. Of course,

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victims are inevitable.

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And people always ask, who is to blame? As I see it,

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it is the terrorist groups, which have destabilised 

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the country, that are to blame.

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I mean ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the like. They are the true culprits.

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This is exactly what the US military reply,

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when they deliver strikes at civilian facilities in Afghanistan,

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Iraq or some other country.

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On the whole, although this may seem debatable to someone,

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but on the whole this is true.

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As far as Syria is concerned, US aircraft delivered very serious 

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strikes at the city of Raqqa.

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Earlier today, President [Trump] and I talked about the need 

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to undertake efforts for humanitarian operations.

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I think we managed to make some headway in this direction.

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I am looking forward to the implementation of the plans we 

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discussed today.

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Everything is to be verified and assessed.

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But I would like you to return to what I have just said about Raqqa.

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The aircraft that were attacking this city were piloted by American…

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Well, we can talk about Aleppo and Ghouta,

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but then let us talk about Raqqa too.

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Don’t snatch some things out of their context and forget 

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about other things. All right?

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You are completely wrong; I wish you were familiar with 

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the real situation in Syria. A lot of civilians died in Raqqa.

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Raqqa has been wiped off the face of the earth.

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Now it is a solid mass of ruins resembling Stalingrad during World War II,

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and, of course, there is nothing good in all this.

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To reiterate: it is the people guided by their terrorist beliefs 

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and using civilians as hostages who are to blame.

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Let me make a correction: when Crimea joined Russia it was not 

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an annexation, since the only form of democratic expression is 

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the expression of the will of the people living within 

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a specific territory.

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People in Crimea came to the referendum and voted for independence 

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and joining the Russian Federation.

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If this is an annexation, what is democracy? This is my first point.

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My second point is that we are aware of President Trump’s position that 

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Crimea is part of the Ukrainian state, as he has repeated today,

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while I articulated our position which is close to what 

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I have just told you.

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Having said that, I think we should leave our discussion 

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of Crimea at that.

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As for the video, it did not indicate that the missile 

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targets US territory. You have to watch it more carefully.

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This is the first thing I wanted to say.

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Second, all our strike systems target…

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No, it did not say Florida. This is not true.

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Watch it one more time, and pay more attention. It did not say Florida.

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All it made clear was that the missile was headed 

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to the other side of the globe.

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No, you could not see this on the map.

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Just pay more attention when you watch instead of scaring your people 

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with threats that do not exist. Yes,

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watch it carefully. Do you want me to give you this video as a gift?

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As for the strike systems, let me remind you that they did 

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not emerge out of nowhere.

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They emerged as a response to the unilateral withdrawal by the United 

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States from the ABM Treaty.

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We warned our American colleagues right from the outset that we were 

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not ready to build a missile defence system,

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since we did not believe in its effectiveness,

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and it was too costly.

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Instead we said that we would do everything to penetrate this shield.

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As I have said on numerous occasions,

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but let me repeat it for the American audience,

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the response was the following: “The missile defence system we,

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the Americans, are building is not created against you,

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and you can do as you please.

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We will proceed from the premise that it is not against us.”

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 In 2003 or 2004 I made a public statement about one of these systems.

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Our American partners did not respond in any way.

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But now we have done it and showed what we have.

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That being said, this is a matter of negotiation, and we hope,

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and I hope very much that we will be able to come to solutions in terms 

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of strategic stability that would be acceptable to both sides,

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including regarding short- and intermediate-range missiles.

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First, nothing has changed about me. I am the same as I was then.

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I became President of Russia when I was a grown man,

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and a person’s predisposition and fundamental beliefs do 

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not change at that age.

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But we have to react to what is happening around us.

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First, the two waves of NATO’s eastward expansion.

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When Soviet troops pulled out of Germany,

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we were told that there is one thing Russians can be absolutely certain 

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of: that NATO will never expand beyond Germany’s borders.

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There were two waves of expansion,

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contrary to our objections of principle.

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They did not give a damn about our objections.

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We asked you not to withdraw from the ABM Treaty,

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but the United States pulled out of it unilaterally.

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You disregarded our calls not to do so and our proposals 

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to work together. There are other examples of this kind.

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Take the developments in Yugoslavia.

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You know that President Yeltsin was categorically against launching 

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military operations without the approval of the UN Security Council,

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which is the only legal way of using the army.

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But nobody listened to us.

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There were other factors that complicated our relationship.

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For example, the extraterritorial application of American criminal law,

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sanctions, and so on.

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Was it us that introduced the sanctions? No, it was you.

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You asked me about Crimea and Ukraine.

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It was not us who organised a military coup there and used military 

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force to change the government in violation of the Ukrainian 

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Constitution, and it was not us who handed out pies to the rebels.

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We are aware of the complicated processes underway there,

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but this is not the way to resolve them.

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And where is this happening? Right at our doorstep.

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So, nothing has happened to me.

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I would like to know what has happened to you.

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First of all, we all have many political opponents.

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President Trump has many political opponents too.

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Take any person involved in state…

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Sometimes they do. Haven’t Presidents been killed in the United States? 

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Have you forgotten about that? Where was Kennedy killed,

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in the US or in Russia? And what happened to King? As a matter of fact,

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what happens during clashes between the police and civil society 

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activists, for example, from ethnic African-American organisations? 

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Does this happen in Russia or in the US? This is all taking 

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place in the US. You have many challenges within your country.

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It is a sad truth that Russia has not been spared criminal activity.

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In fact, the Russian state is still in the making,

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and unfortunately there are many manifestations of this kind.

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We are fighting this, and hold perpetrators to account.

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You have mentioned the Skripals.

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We want to see the documents on this case,

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to get a glimpse of any materials.

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No one has said anything specific,

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just as with the accusations against Russia of meddling 

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in the political processes in the US.

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We have not seen a single document.

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We now learn that two more people have suffered from the toxic agent 

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referred to as Novichok, but I had never even heard their names.

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Who are these people, how were they hurt and why?

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No, let’s stay on the subject.

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What bottle? Who picked it up? Where? What was its chemical 

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composition? Or can it be that these people suffered from something 

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else? Can it be that you have to look inside Great Britain 

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to find the cause?

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No one wants to get to the bottom of this issue.

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These are absolutely groundless accusations.

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Why all this? Why make our relations worse? We want to build a proper 

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relationship with Great Britain as well.

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I do not claim to be a symbol of Russia.

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But from the point of view of current law, the national flag,

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the anthem, and the presidency itself are to a certain extent 

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the symbols of the country – and not only those of Russia 

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but also of any other country.

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I hope that my work also reflects what Russia is engaged in,

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what it is concerned about, and what it is ready to do to normalise our 

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relations with all countries, including, of course,

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with such a great country as the United States of America.

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I have mentioned the economy. Look,

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I cited these examples to Mr Trump.

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Currently, the Europeans sell $100 billion worth of goods on our 

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market, plus another $50 billion worth of services.

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China sells approximately $57 billion worth of goods on our market.

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But do you know the figure for US sales? Twelve [billion dollars].

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And another $5 billion of services.

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This is the result of your policies,

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including the sanctions policy.

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But who needs that? You have just chased your own big 

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companies from our market.

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They have left and made way for rivals,

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including in major projects that they were extremely 

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interested in and invested in.

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Some of them even lost money. What is that for?

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We are interested in developing relations in the area of security,

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strategic stability, crisis management,

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the fight against terrorism, and the economy.

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I hope that today President Trump and I have made at least 

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the first step in that direction.