Vladimir Putin

Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.

The whole world recognizes Russia’s cultural achievements. It is impossible to imagine the world culture without Russian culture, without our music and literature.

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.

Russia will not soon become, if it ever becomes, a second copy of the United States or England – where liberal value have deep historic roots.

Donald Trump and I have, firstly, met more than once at various international venues and secondly, we regularly talk over the phone.

[on Trump] We can objectively see quite serious achievements even during his short time in office.

How do you expect the Germans to revolt when they don’t even dare walk on the grass?

The universities…are not independent institutions. There may be independent people scattered around in them but that is true of the media as well. And it’s generally true of corporations. It’s true of Fascist states, for that matter. But the institution itself is parasitic.

One man with a gun can control 100 without one. … Make mass searches and hold executions for found arms.

I’ve never tried to impose pressure on the authority of the government through my business achievements. I cannot tell you what the others were doing.

I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.

The world is changed by idealists.

I think we need more young people; we need to elect young people to government. We need to give them a chance, in the media, in politics, in democracy.

You can do a lot more with weapons and politeness than just politeness.

The understanding that a third world war could be the end of civilization should restrain us from taking extreme steps on the international arena that are highly dangerous for modern civilization.

Leave the President’s family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.

There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.

We are not going to close anything… I also worked in the security services and know it is easiest to ban, and harder to find civilized solutions. Therefore, I’m going to urge all my colleagues to take this route, the route of security and law enforcement agencies using modern methods to combat offences, including terrorism, without restricting freedoms including on the Internet.

I didn’t come into politics to change the Labour Party. I came into politics to change the country.

We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars. All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.

In accordance with the prevailing conceptions in the U.S., there is no infringement on democracy if a few corporations control the information system: in fact, that is the essence of democracy.