Today, Vladimir Putin and US Vice President Mike Pence discussed the future of the Russian-US military agreements that affect the stability on the entire planet. The conversation wasn't scheduled by protocol services and began with a handshake, which Pence didn't expect. That was just one of many meetings that Putin held on the margins of the East Asia Summit in Singapore.
Denis Davydov has the details.
Any major summit has its timetable where everything is planned down to the last minute. But in big-time politics, not everything always goes as planned. Thus, in Singapore, the Russian president didn't have any conversations planned with the vice president of the US. To everyone's surprise, Vladimir Putin and Mike Pence met and talked today. Twice.
They were brought together by the protocol of the East Asia Summit; they happened to sit next to each other at the table. Putin extended his hand, and Pence immediately perked up. One can see the Russian president saying something with a smile to the Americans. The NSA to US President John Bolton nods. They talked like this for a few minutes and probably would have talked more, but they had to stop in order to take part in the meeting. Right afterward, the politicians decided to continue the conversation on foot. A few days ago, Putin spoke with the US president like this. They met in Paris. Putin and Trump agreed to talk in detail a couple of weeks later at the G20 Summit in Argentina.
Vladimir Putin: "We, for our own part, are ready. Mr. Vice President has just said that the Americans are also preparing for this meeting Well, we'll see what happens. Indeed, we have something to talk about. During the working lunch in Paris, the discussion was common and pretty intense President Trump and I managed to take part in that common discussion in quite a substantial way. We discussed security issues, economic development, regional issues. Now, Mr. Vice President and I touched upon almost the same issues. The issue of strategic stability is undoubtedly one of the key issues because we should understand what will happen to START III, we should understand what will happen in the framework of the treaty on the intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles and how things will develop. Undoubtedly, we need a dialogue at the top and expert levels. We're ready to go back to full-fledged work as much as our American partners are ready".
The Russian president gave this press conference following his three-day visit to Singapore. He held many meetings, including the one with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Those negotiations would be incomplete without a discussion of the still unsigned peace treaty.
Vladimir Putin: "During our meeting, Mr. Prime Minister said that Japan would be ready to discuss this issue again on the basis of the declaration of 1956. Of course, this requires some separate additional elaboration. I mean that many provisions of the declaration are unclear. It just states the problem in general terms and says that the USSR is ready to transfer two islands, the southernmost islands. But it doesn't provide any grounds for this and doesn't say under whose jurisdiction they will be. All of this is a subject for serious elaboration. Moreover, Japan itself once refused to carry out these agreements".
Ukraine is the country most frequently asked about at the press conference. Elections took place in the self-proclaimed republics of the Donbass. Kiev and the West condemned them, noting that it was a violation of the Minsk agreements.
Vladimir Putin: “We haven't heard anyone condemning the assassinations committed on the territory of those unrecognized republics. That's the thing. They should have first condemned the assassinations being committed there for political reasons. That triggered the reaction of the people living there. What did the people arranging such crimes expect? Of course, the elections were inevitable. That was my first point.
Second, to meet in the Normandy format now, during the election campaign currently taking place in Ukraine, by and large, makes no sense. Actually, the current Ukrainian authorities haven't demonstrated their willingness to carry out the Minsk agreements. Everyone is waiting for some kind of fulfillment of the Minsk agreements from Russia but they prefer to turn a blind eye to the fact that the Kiev authorities are doing nothing.
Finally, what's most important, is whether the current authorities are able to do something to settle the situation. In my opinion, they aren't. While the power in Kiev is in the hands of such people, we can't count on a peaceful settlement in those territories.”
Syria is another flashpoint on the map. It’s necessary to jointly restore the country which was destroyed by the war. talked told about that repeatedly. Foreign aid will speed up the return of refugees to their homeland.
Vladimir Putin: "Yes, we hear the considerations that this should be voluntary. But who will go involuntarily? Who'll be forced to go there from, let's say, the refugee camps? Well, who can be forced to leave Turkey, Lebanon, or Jordan? No one. People will go back if there are elementary things there, such as sewage, water supply, electricity. That's what we should do. Of course, the international community, and Europe, first and furthermost, if it doesn't want a new influx of immigrants, should think about it, get rid of some phobias, and just help the Syrian people, regardless of its political predilections".
The journalist switched from politics to business news. They talked about the World Economic Forum in Davos. Several Russian businessmen have not received invitations to it yet.
Vladimir Putin: "Being the vice-governor of Saint Petersburg, I often, almost every year, went to Davos. Then, working in Moscow, I did it less and less. In recent years I practically haven't been there. But it is a good platform. The goal of such platforms is to make people closer beyond any political restrictions. If someone introduces restrictions on such platforms, they harm themselves. They destroy the basis for their work. As for our participation, it's representatives of business who mostly gather there. Our people are free, they're entitled to make their own decisions on whether to take part or not".
In general, yesterday's ASEAN and today's East Asia Summit are notable for mutually beneficial cooperation, without any ideas of globalization being imposed or having one's partners bound hand and foot with blocking obligations.
Earlier this day, Putin talked to Li Keqiang, the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. That was his eighth round of negotiations in his three days of work in Singapore. The Russian president said that the trip was rather useful.
Denis Davydov, Alexandra Terpugova, Oleg Makarov, Andrey Yurchuk for Vesti from Singapore.
