I think the American people should express their preferences, and we'll accept their choice.

I think the American people should express their preferences, and we'll accept their choice.

History proves that all dictatorships, all authoritarian forms of government are transient. Only democratic systems are not transient. Whatever the shortcomings, mankind has not devised anything superior.

We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the society as a whole.

We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.

Nobody should pin their hopes on a miracle.

The path towards a free society has not been simple. There are tragic and glorious pages in our history.

Our aims are absolutely clear: They are a high living standard in the country and a secure, free and comfortable life.

Russia is a part of European culture. Therefore, it is with difficulty that I imagine NATO as an enemy.

You must obey the law, always, not only when they grab you by your special place.

Anyone who doesn't regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains.

The strengthening of our statehood is, at times, deliberately interpreted as authoritarianism.

Nobody and nothing will stop Russia on the road to strengthening democracy and ensuring human rights and freedoms.

No references to the need to fight terror can be an argument for restricting human rights.

The democratic choice Russian people made in the early 90's is final.

Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.

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.

To pay more is the easy way. In fact, the solution possibilities to the problem are many.

Terrorism has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human victims. An end must be put to this. As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror.

A considerable share of the world's population still cannot afford comfortable housing, education and quality health care.

A figure who receives money from abroad for his political work, and thus serves some foreign interest, cannot be a politician in Russia.

Above all, such sports as judo, in my view, teach people to relate to each other. They teach us to respect a partner, teach us to understand that an externally weak partner can not only put up worthy resistance, but, if you relax and take too much for granted, may even win.

All attempts to appease the Nazis between 1934 and 1939 through various agreements and pacts were morally unacceptable and politically senseless, harmful and dangerous.

Any people has a right to self-determination, and now in Europe the process of diluting national sovereignty in the framework of a united Europe is more accepted.

As far as oligarchs who acquire sports team abroad, and invest money abroad, I wouldn't treat this phenomenon as something bad.

At a certain point, we saw the police cracking down on the Occupy Wall Street activists. I won't call the actions of police appropriate or inappropriate.

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.

At least in Russia, you cannot just go and tap into someone's phone conversation without a warrant issued by court. That's more or less the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.

Chechnya is part and parcel of the Russian Federation.

China has created very good investment tools, including an entire network of very large funds. The Russian Private Investment Fund works with some of those funds, with China's largest investment funds.

China is a great country with a great culture, populated by fascinating, industrious and talented people.

Construction of the first gas pipeline system was started during the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, and for all those years, from the 1960s until this day, Russia has been fulfilling its contract obligations in a very consistent and reliable way, regardless of the political situation.

Cromwell is just as much of a bloody dictator as was Stalin.

Despite all the achievements of civilisation, the human being is still one of the most vulnerable creatures on earth.

Economic activity is moving from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean... Russia has a certain natural advantage because it also borders the Pacific Ocean.

Even during the years of the Cold War, the intense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, we always avoided any direct clash between our civilians and, most certainly, between our military.

Everything will probably never be OK. But we have to try for it.

Few people understand the magnitude of the catastrophe that happened late in the 1980s when the Communist Party had failed to modernize the Soviet Union.

For Russia, there is not and there may not be another political option but democracy. However, Russian democracy is... not at all the realization of standards imposed on us from outside.

How can a bureaucrat or a politician be trusted if he says loud words for the sake of Russia's good while trying to take his funds, his money abroad?

How does one control weight? By not overeating. How does one stay in shape? One plays sports. There are no magic pills here.

I am convinced that the norm in Russia should become a family with three children.

I am not prejudiced in any way.

I am the wealthiest man, not just in Europe, but in the whole world. I collect emotions. I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia - I believe that is my greatest wealth.

I believe that the presidential term should be limited.

I believe the U.S. already understands and will understand more and more that only a strong Russia will respond to the genuine interests of the United States.

I don't read books by people who have betrayed the Motherland.

I go to the gym, I swim daily and from time to time I meet with friends and do extra-curricular stuff.

I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.