Let's hear out the guests of the studio. Valeria Korablyova, please?
- Mr. Putin, a little bit of international agenda, if you don't mind. We've already mentioned the sanctions today. We have a person in our studio who has sanctions imposed against him. I'd like to introduce the winner of the Leaders of Russia competition Evgeny Grabchak. He'd like to ask a question about a specific person, the leader of the country that imposed the sanctions, Donald Trump, given that the G20 summit is very soon. Your question, please?
Evgeny Grabchak: Thanks. Mr. Putin, I've had personal sanctions imposed against me for several years that's why I'm so interested in the international agenda and diplomacy. And recently, the president of the United States of America has been playing an odd diplomatic game. He's doing what we call Twitter-diplomacy. In this regard, here's my question. He's repeatedly mentioned on his Twitter that he'd like to meet with you. Would you like to meet with him? And if you would, do you believe that this meeting will bear some positive results for our country and can it improve the relations between our states?
Vladimir Putin: Dialogue is always good. It's always in demand. And naturally, if America expresses its interest in it, I've said it multiple times, we're ready for the dialogue, as much as our partners are ready for it. We see and realize what's happening in US domestic politics. Even if the president wants to take some steps towards us, wants to talk, there are still a lot of limitations associated with the activities of other authorities. Moreover, now, the incumbent president will have to bear in mind the requirements of the election campaign he's already launched. That's why I believe fixing our relations won't be so simple. I mean that a part of the US establishment exploits the state of the Russian-American relations trying to catch something for themselves in these muddy waters coming up with various fakes, as it's been already mentioned. They never get confirmed but they continue doing the same thing with the effort worthy of a better application. As soon as our colleagues are ready, we will respond appropriately. We have plenty of things to discuss in the field of international security, disarmament, given that New START is about to expire, and everything related to healthy interstate relations, including the economy. American companies continue to operate in the Russian market, though the turnover is small. However, during Trump's term, the turnover has grown by $5 billion. When Obama was in charge, it plunged down to $20 billion and now, it's grown back, despite all the restrictions and sanctions, strangely enough.
Speaking of the sanctions, I believe the US make a big mistake. I hope someday, they'll realize that and fix the situation.
- We're working under constant cyber attacks today. The New York Times has reported that the US intelligence is trying to infiltrate the Russian energy systems. Trump even accused them of treason. But that's none of our business; what we're interested in is whether it's possible to cause a power blackout all across Russia from the US territory. Can they do this?
- Well, you know, the contemporary world is very interconnected and interdependent. We hear about such thing, I've heard about that NYT article and heard the president call them traitors. I'm not sure how we're supposed to interpret that. Did they disclose actual information? Or was it fake news? Anyway, we have to respond to that somehow. We must understand the subject. Here's what I'd like to tell you in this regard. First, we've repeatedly proposed to our American partners to engage in dialogue to elaborate some cyberspace regulations, including the ones that have a direct impact on the vital infrastructure, as well as the media. So far, we haven’t received an adequate reply. Before the very end of his term, President Obama seemingly agreed to that but he didn't have enough time to do anything. We told that to the incumbent administration. The reaction was rather positive but it didn't go any further. But regarding the work of our vital infrastructure, including energy systems and other fields, we must definitely find a way to protect ourselves from any cyber attacks, any negative impact. We aren't just considering it, we're doing it already.
