Putin – BILD.The Interview (part 2) | „We do not claim the Role of a Superpower“
Putin – BILD:The Interview (part 2) | „We do not claim the Role of a Superpower“
"...BILD: Does Russia not want to be a superpower? Putin: No, we do not claim the role of a superpower for ourselves. That is far
too expensive and unnecessary. We are still one of the leading economic
nations in the world. As far as the concept of a “regional power” is
concerned, I would recommend taking a look at a map of the world...."
"...BILD: How valuable are the G8 meetings for you? How much do you miss them? Putin:
Overall, the G8 meetings were quite useful, since it is always good to
exchange alternative opinions and to listen to Russia. We are still
carrying out this exchange with the G20 states, the APEC states from the
Asia-Pacific region and with the emerging nations (BRICS)..."
"...Putin: Turkey is part of NATO, but it
was not attacked. NATO therefore does not have to protect Turkey, and
our problems with Turkey have nothing to do with the NATO membership of
that country. The Turkish leadership had better apologize for shooting
the plane down, which was clearly a war crime, instead of calling NATO’s
headquarters. It’s strange, isn’t it? If Turkey is pursuing its own
interests in the region, neither Germany nor NATO have to support the
country, correct?...."
Exclusive!Vladimir Putin: The Interview Part 2
Quelle: BILD
BY NIKOLAUS BLOME, KAI DIEKMANN and DANIEL BISKUP (Fotos) BILD:
Mr President, by now the international community has virtually
ostracized Russia. You are no longer allowed to participate in the G8
meetings of the leaders of the most important industrial nations. How
much are you hurt by this measure? Putin:
In the past, I had the overall impression that Russia was never a
full-fledged member of the G8 group. The foreign ministers, for example,
were still meeting in the old format of the seven most important
states, the G7, without Russia. BILD: And what did you think when the president of the superpower USA, Barack Obama, mocked Russia as a „regional power“? Putin:
To be honest, I did not take that seriously. Of course, every head of
state and government in the world is allowed to have his opinion and to
voice it. Barack Obama also says America is the „chosen nation“. I do
not take that seriously, either. BILD: Does Russia not want to be a superpower? Putin:
No, we do not claim the role of a superpower for ourselves. That is far
too expensive and unnecessary. We are still one of the leading economic
nations in the world. As far as the concept of a “regional power” is
concerned, I would recommend taking a look at a map of the world. In the
West, our region is Europe. In the east, Japan and the USA with Alaska
are our neighbors. In the north, we share a border with Canada over the
Arctic Ocean. If you want to lower the significance of Russia in the
world, you actually just want to elevate your own country. That is a
mistake.
BILD-Interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
BILD: Will you try to bring back Russia into the G8 meetings? Putin:
In 2014, we invited everyone to have a G8 meeting in Russia. It was the
others who did not come. Russia is always willing to participate in the
G8 meetings again, but we have not bought any tickets for the journey
yet. BILD: How valuable are the G8 meetings for you? How much do you miss them? Putin:
Overall, the G8 meetings were quite useful, since it is always good to
exchange alternative opinions and to listen to Russia. We are still
carrying out this exchange with the G20 states, the APEC states from the
Asia-Pacific region and with the emerging nations (BRICS). BILD: What is the state of the relationship with NATO? The, back then, specifically created NATO-Russia Council is on hold. Putin:
We have also not frozen this cooperation. Russia would like to
cooperate with NATO again. There are plenty of reasons and
opportunities. But it is like in real life: a happy love needs to be
reciprocated. If one does not want to cooperate with us, then fine, we
will leave it. BILD: It is not only the lack of
cooperation that gives rise to concerns. Now there is also a direct
confrontation with a NATO state. Turkey has recently shot down a Russian
jet fighter in the Turkish-Syrian border region. Can such an incident –
accidentally, so to say – set the whole world on fire?
Vergrößern
Putin: "Russia would like to cooperate with NATO again."
Foto: Daniel Biskup
Putin: Turkey is part of NATO, but it
was not attacked. NATO therefore does not have to protect Turkey, and
our problems with Turkey have nothing to do with the NATO membership of
that country. The Turkish leadership had better apologize for shooting
the plane down, which was clearly a war crime, instead of calling NATO’s
headquarters. It’s strange, isn’t it? If Turkey is pursuing its own
interests in the region, neither Germany nor NATO have to support the
country, correct? BILD: How big is the risk of such an incident escalating? Putin:
I very much hope that such events do not grow into large military
conflicts. But if Russia’s interests and security are threatened, Russia
will resist. Everyone needs to know that. BILD: You
mentioned the region, that is, the Near and Middle East. Under your
leadership, Russia has also intervened in Syria by military means. Many
Western experts and politicians are saying that the Russian air strikes
are not aimed at the Islamist terror militia ISIS, but at the rebels
fighting against the Syrian ruler Assad. In short: does Russia bomb the
wrong people? (The interpreter translates Putin’s
Russian reply into German with the words: „You are saying everything the
wrong way.“ Putin laughs and intervenes by saying in German himself:
„That’s all lies, I have said.” Then he continues in Russian and is
immediately serious again.) Putin: The
alleged video evidence for this claim was developed before Russian
forces even began their mission. We can prove that, even though our
critics refuse to believe it. And, by the way, what about the US pilots
who bombed a hospital of “Doctors without Borders” in Kunduz,
Afghanistan? Many people died there, but the Western press is not saying
anything about it.
Wladimir Putin erklärt seine Welt: Die Nato ist
aggressiv, Angela Merkel ehrlich. Und eine russische Krim
göttliche Gerechtigkeit.
BILD: No, there was extensive coverage in many newspapers and magazines. Putin:
Well, maybe it was mentioned a few times in the press, but only because
foreigners were among the victims. Then the incident was quickly
forgotten again. And who still remembers the weddings in Afghanistan,
where hundreds of innocent civilians were killed by an American
bombardment? Our pilots do not bomb civil targets, except if you call
the thousands of tanker trucks – virtually a living pipeline – a civil
target. Those we bomb, yes, but so do the Americans and the French. BILD:
The Syrian President Assad bombs his own population and is responsible
for many thousands of deaths. That is a fact. Is Assad your ally? If so,
why? Putin: That is a tricky question. I
also think that President Assad has done much wrong over the course of
this conflict. But the conflict would never have become so big if it had
not been fueled by outside of Syria – with weapons, money, and
fighters. Who is responsible for that? The Assad government, which is
trying to hold the country together? Or the rebels who want to tear it
apart and fight against this government? BILD: What is Russia’s aim in the Syria conflict? Putin:
I can tell you what we do not want: we do not want Syria to end like
Iraq or Libya. Look at Egypt: one has to praise President Sisi for
taking over the responsibility and power in an emergency situation, in
order to stabilize the country. Therefore one should try anything to
support the legitimate rulers in Syria. But this does not mean that
everything can just stay the same. Once the stabilization of the country
has progressed, a constitutional reform has to follow, and then early
presidential elections. Only the Syrian people can decide who should
govern the country in the future.BILD: Do you seriously think that Assad is still the legitimate ruler in Syria? He is bombing his own people. Putin:
Assad does not fight against his own population, but against those who
take armed action against the government. If the civil population is
then also harmed, it is not Assad’s fault, but primarily the fault of
the insurgents and their foreign supporters. Once again: this is not
supposed to mean that everything is fine in Syria or that Assad is doing
everything right. BILD: If there actually were presidential elections, and Assad loses, would Russia grant him asylum? Putin:
It is too early for that. But it was surely more difficult to grant Mr
Snowden asylum in Russia than it would be in the case of Assad. But
first the Syrian population has to be able to vote, and then we will see
if Assad would have to leave his country if he loses the election. In
any case, this is not a prerequisite. Until then, Russia will fight ISIS
and those anti-Assad rebels who cooperate with ISIS. At the same time,
we will support Assad’s forces fighting against ISIS – but also
anti-Assad forces that are fighting against ISIS. That is, admittedly,
quite complicated.
Vergrößern
Putin: "I can tell you what we do not want: we do not want Syria to end like Iraq or Libya."
Foto: Daniel Biskup
BILD: To what degree does the emergence of the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia further complicate the Syria conflict? Putin:
This conflict indeed makes everything much more complicated: solving
the Syria question, fighting together against terrorism, ending the
refugee crisis. I do not want to speculate whether a full-blown conflict
between these two states is to be expected. Russia maintains very good
relations with both – Iran as well as Saudi Arabia. But it was a mistake
of the leaders in Saudi Arabia to execute the Shiite cleric. He was not
fighting with arms in his hands. In Russia, capital punishment was not
even carried out in the worst times of terrorism, in the 90s and 2000s.
On the other hand, it was also absolutely inappropriate to storm the
Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran. BILD: Mr President, one
last question: when Russia hosted the Winter Games in 2014, there was a
lot of criticism beforehand concerning the state of the local democracy.
Do you think there will be a similar debate prior to the FIFA World Cup
2018? (After translating for almost two hours
without a break, the interpreter is quite exhausted. Listening to him,
it seems as if his translation of the question is rather cumbersome.
This leads to a brief banter about the two languages, German and
Russian.) BILD: Is Russian more complicated than German? Putin:
The German language is more precise. But Russian is more versatile,
colorful. Of course, this richness can also be found in the great German
writers. (Putin begins to spontaneously recite in German: „Ich
weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten, warum ich so traurig bin. Ein Märchen
aus alten Zeiten, das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.“ This is, almost
literally, the beginning of Heinrich Heine’s „Loreley“, written in 1824,
a German classic. Then Putin abruptly and impassively continues in
Russian.) Putin: Concerning democracy in
Russia, I think: the powers like to talk about “freedom” in order to
wash the population’s brains. Democracy means the power of the people
and the possibility of influencing the governing parties. Russia had had
enough experience with a one-party-system – we will not go back there.
We will further develop and perfect our democracy. 77 parties are, by
now, approved for parliamentary elections. Most governors are elected
directly. BILD: But the political conditions in Russia seem to differ from a European democracy. Putin:
There is no uniform, global model for democracy. What you mean by
democracy differs from county to country. This conception is different
in India and in the USA and in Russia or Europe. In the USA, for
example, twice in history a politician became President because he had
more electoral votes, regardless of the fact that his competitor had
more votes from the citizens. Does that mean the USA are not a
democracy? Of course they are. And concerning the attempts to abuse
sports or the World Cup in Russia for dirty political games: this is
really stupid and wrong. Even if states sometimes have problems with
each other, arts and sports should not suffer from that. Arts and sports
are there to bring the people together – and not to divide them. BILD: Mr President, thank you very much for this conversation.
