Vladimir Putin

There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy.

To forgive the terrorists is up to God, but to send them to him is up to me.

The events in Crimea themselves have nothing to do with what happened in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other regions. In my opinion, when the world becomes unipolar, or when someone tries to make it so, then this one pole has the illusion that all issues can be settled through power. And only when there is a balance of power does the desire to negotiate appears.

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.

At last, Russia has returned to the world arena as a strong state – a country that others heed and that can stand up for itself.

Demographers affirm that choosing to have a second child is already a potential choice in favour of a third.

Economic control…is the control of the means for all our ends. And whoever has control of the means must also determine which ends are to be served.

I think our Russian Football Union must play an active part in this… and develop a new generation of sportsmen and soccer players.

Politics is human beings; it’s addition rather than subtraction.

Make decisions about the President’s personal security. He can overrule you, but don’t ask him to be the one to counsel caution.

Conflict is not inevitable, but disarmament is… everyone now accepts that if there is a default by Saddam the international community must act to enforce its will.

Why does the world dislike Russia? I do not think that we are unloved or considered to be ignorant.

Nations do not think, they only feel. They get their feelings at second hand through their temperaments, not their brains. A nation can be brought – by force of circumstances, not argument – to reconcile itself to any kind of government or religion that can be devised; in time it will fit itself to the required conditions; later it will prefer them and will fiercely fight for them.

International terrorism is throwing down a challenge, and not just to Russia.

To fear the world we have organized and led for three quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership, and our duty to remain the last, best hope of Earth, for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems, is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.

From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality.

Between major countries, there certainly always are some common ground and points of tension.

We, therefore, here in Britain stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends in this hour of tragedy, and we, like them, will not rest until this evil is driven from our world.

A consistent anarchist must oppose private ownership of the means of production and the wage slavery which is a component of this system, as incompatible with the principle that labor must be freely undertaken and under the control of the producer.

I think the international community should unite to fight such inhuman phenomena as terror attacks and the murder of totally innocent people.

Religion is based on the idea that God is an imbecile.