Russia is unlikely to change its priorities in the Arctic, and its plans to develop this region are absolutely justified. This was stated by Vladimir Putin today in Arkhangelsk, while speaking at the forum The Arctic — the Territory of Dialogue. The President also said that he had instructed to study the issue of creating a separate structure that would develop the Northern Sea Route.
However, given the international nature of the forum, as well as the number and status of the guests, other topics, including those related to politics, were raised in Arkhangelsk. They were about the situation in the world, about relations with the United States, and about Russian internal affairs. Alexander Balitsky reports from Arkhangelsk.
The giant Arctic tanker Christophe de Margerie cuts through thick arctic ice like a can opener. With the size of three football fields, this ship does almost impossible — turns in its own length. And, for the first time, it enters the port of Sabetta. Such a tanker can transport 170 thousand cubic meters of liquefied gas at once.
President Putin congratulated the crew through video communication from Arkhangelsk. This new ice-class ship, which, in fact, has no analogues in the world, is named after our great friend, French entrepreneur de Margerie, who tragically passed away. This is very symbolic. It will consolidate our relations, even on this spiritual level, I would say. A unique plant for liquefying gas was built from scratch and will be launched this year. Seven countries that participate in the project are the example of cooperation in the Arctic, the prospects for development of which the Russian President explained to the colleagues from Finland and Iceland.
President Johannesson was demonstrating his knowledge of Russian one-on-one with the Russian President and for the wide audience. Actions speak louder than words. It can be said that the Arctic Forum attracted a lot of attention judging by the number of television cameras. Journalists came from Northern Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. But the moderator of the discussion, host of the American CNBC Jeff Catmore, recalls the favorite Washington topic about the "Russian hackers" and alleged interference in the American elections. I knew that it would end up here. I really would not like to see the positive things that arise when discussing the Arctic being mixed with the problems of the bilateral Russian-American relations. But, out of respect for you, Jeff, out of respect for your company, CNBC, which, probably, ordered you to ask such questions, I will just have play along. Well, firstly, I want to thank you for raising the issue and saying that there is a problem of Ukraine and Crimea, as if dividing Crimea and Ukraine, and this is correct.
Now about the essence of your question. We see the United States and treat it as a great power with which we want to establish very friendly partnership relations. Everything else is a lie and fiction about Russia, and a provocation. All this is used for the US domestic political agenda. But the CNBC host won’t stop. I want to clearly understand and clearly state this. You, the Russian government, have never tried to influence the results of the elections in the US? And the evidence of this will never be found? Read my lips: no. Finnish President Niinistö, who told the Russian president at the end of the forum that he was interested to learn how the world looked from the point of view of Putin, offered Helsinki as the place of the first meeting between Putin and Trump. Putin doesn’t mind.
By shifting the emphasis farther away from the Arctic and getting closer to politics, Putin was asked to comment on recent protests. The Russian President compared them with the beginning of the "Arab Spring". All these appeals are taking place against the background of police violence, say, against the protesters in Paris, in connection with the murder of one of the citizens right at his house, a Frenchman of Chinese origin.
Therefore, the formulation of such questions and appeals to Russia of this kind, we believe that these are purely politicized issues with the aim of putting some pressure on domestic political life in the country. As for our domestic political developments. We consistently advocate the fight against corruption, which is quite a serious problem. By the way, according to the opinion polls among other things, it’s becoming a smaller problem for us recently. This is relevant for other countries, and we are dealing with it. And people in the country see it. I personally advocate that the issues of fighting corruption should constantly be at the center of public attention, and I always positively perceive this attention from people to these problems. The only thing that I think is wrong is when someone, some political forces try to use this instrument in their own interests. Not to improve the situation in the country, but for self-promotion in the political arena on the eve of some political events, including electoral campaigns in the country. This tool was used at the beginning of the so-called "Arab spring". We know very well what this led to, what bloody events in the region it caused. We also know very well that it was one of the motives and reasons for a coup in Ukraine. We also know very well to what chaos these events led our neighbor Ukraine. Therefore, I say yes to the fight against corruption. And I say no to the use of this tool for narrow-minded political purposes. And everyone should act in the course of political processes within the framework of the law. Anyone who is beyond the scope of this law must be punished in accordance with Russian law.
The West is trying to influence the Russian policy with the help of sanctions. They, of course, hurt both business and ordinary people. In connection with the Crimean events, they imposed sanctions against individuals who had nothing to do with these events. They had no idea what had been planned. They learned what was happening from the mass media. But the sanctions were imposed. So where are human rights in this? They closed their accounts, and now these people can’t even use the funds to pay for surgeries for family members, and so forth. Well, what are we talking about? What human rights are we talking about? So, they must be observed in one situation and mustn’t in the other? Well, there is no logic and no equal approach to these issues that exist in the modern world. It is necessary to fix this. Can it be done or not? It can.
However, sanctions almost didn't affect the Arctic projects. There are almost 150 of them. Washington is looking for new ways of putting pressure. Here is Mr. Ambassador of the United States. He came to our forum. He communicates with all the participants, he can communicate with the members of the government, with the representatives of major Russian companies. We don’t hinder this, but, on the contrary, we promote it, we help. But the contacts of our ambassador in the United States are limited. Any of his meetings are perceived with hostility, as some kind of a espionage action. Isn't this delirious? Why is the ambassador there? In order to communicate with people, maintain contacts with the political elite, with businessmen, members of the Congress and the Senate, with members of the government and administration. And why did he come there? This is a worldwide diplomatic practice. I think that this isn’t advantageous for the majority of the American people to bring Russian-American relations to nonsense in favor of the internal political calendar. What do we want? To discontinue our relations? To bring the situation back to the 60s, to the Caribbean crisis? And then what?
In fact, what do people who behave irresponsibly lead all of us to, including the people of the United States? It seems to me that this is a big mistake. I very much count on the fact that once, and the sooner the better, the situation is normalized. Is the Arctic a place for fighting or a place for dialogue? We are working on a dialogue. What is the main goal of the US in the Arctic? The United States was there from the very beginning as the head of the Arctic Council. We are very proud of what has already been done together with our partners, including Russia. It is the Arctic that forms the climate on the planet. We are a small country, we don’t even have our own army. Do you need help? And what seems a little incomprehensible for small Iceland is the subject of constant attacks from Washington in Russia. Blaming Russia of strengthening their military bases in the Russian Arctic region, the United States seem to have forgotten how they deployed the ABM system in Alaska. If what we do is of a local nature, then what the United States does in Alaska is global.
There, they are developing the system of anti-missile defense. And it's known that these systems are one of the most serious problems of the world today in the sphere of security. It’s not just a defense system, it is part of the nuclear potential that has been brought to the periphery. And this is not something that prevents a nuclear missile attack, it minimizes the so-called retaliatory strike. But we can work together. Washington, for example, has repeatedly spoken about joint actions in Syria. Although it isn’t easy to build a dialogue with NATO. When Helsinki was concerned that they couldn’t identify Russian military aircraft over the Baltic, as Russia and NATO had different control systems, Moscow proposed unification. We announced that we were ready for this. We held a meeting in Brussels and heard the following answer. "No. NATO countries won’t do this." But ask them why. I honestly don’t understand why.
First of all, their activity is several times higher than ours. After that, they are trying to blame us for some kind of aggressive behavior. Well, do you know what it is? It's just a conversation in favor of the poor. This is for the media. But the experts remember it and know about it. How to get out of such a difficult situation? The Scandinavians, who are usually reserved in their emotions, turned out to be quite specific. If there is tension, what can be better than the cool Arctic in order to cool all these hot emotions? It's hot Finnish guys who are saying this! It is necessary to listen to them. Against the background of global warming, it seems that the ice in the relationship should also melt. And the International Arctic Forum once again set the priorities, and for Russia the main thing is the development of its own territories.
