7 Ежегодная большая пресс-конференция Part 27 В.Путин (Putin)

7 Annual Big Press Conference Part 27
February 14,2008
President of Russia V.Putin
The Kremlin,Moscow

The uniqueness of our situation lies in the fact that we have traditional trusting relations with the Arab world, with Palestine. But at the same time Israel, as we know, is home to a large number of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and this represents certainly one more link between Russia and Israel. And today it is perhaps difficult to say that Israel is a purely Jewish state: there are many members of the indigenous Arab population there and they are citizens of Israel. (And in the light of demographic changes, which we know very well, perhaps in 15 to 25 years this part of the population will have the majority in the Knesset.) This, of course, reflects the need to think about basic changes in Middle Eastern policy, how to position ourselves, how to construct a relationship among all the people who live in this compact territory, and how to ensure that all desire to have a stable rather than an unstable situation.
Russia supports what President Bush had done recently. I believe that he sincerely wants to ensure that the situation in the Middle East stabilises. Now I will not say that we agree with everything he does, and that we don't have any disagreements but, in any case, we actively participated in the preparation of an international conference in the United States. I won't disguise the fact that we made efforts to ensure that our traditional partners, including representatives from Syria, took part in this work, and that no one blocked the process. Because we believe that dialogue is a very important component of the peace process. How is it possible to agree on something positive if we do not talk about it? We need dialogue.
Today one of the most important components of the settlement is the restoration of the unity of the Palestinian people. Despite the seriousness of the problem we still need to listen to Hamas, to understand their motivations, and not only to concentrate on the influence that some foreign countries have on Hamas. There are internal reasons that motivate Hamas to adopt their policies. Then it became obvious to everyone that simply isolating this part of Palestinian territory does not lead to anything. People just destroyed the border between Egypt and Palestine and went shopping, and then what? It is clear that this is not the way to achieve a settlement. Rather, you need to look for a basis for cooperation. It is difficult, but in general, it seems to me, there are various possible options to find such a compromise.
And just recently the King of Jordan was our guest here, as you know, and we talked with him in great detail. Russia will continue its efforts together with our partners to achieve a Middle Eastern settlement, to establish conditions for the secure existence of Israel, and comfortable conditions, so that the Palestinian people feel like the masters of their own territory. We are opposed to the fragmentation of the Palestinian territories. Of course, this should take the form of a future self-sufficient state, one that is distinguished and independent.
And in that context of course we said and I would like to confirm this once again that if all the actors find that another international meeting, which we propose to hold in Moscow, will help find these compromises (even if we only state that compromises are possible), then we will to organize the corresponding international conference in Moscow. Again I repeat that we will continue to work with all the participants in this process.
I should perhaps finish? What is that nice drawing you have there? Please go ahead. I think that you have already asked a question, or have you?
QUESTION: Good afternoon. In fact, together with my colleagues we noticed that everybody is asking about things that worry them
VLADIMIR PUTIN: You would prefer them to ask about things that worry you?
QUESTION: No, let them ask what they want, the most important thing is that I can now ask you a question.
The first question I want to ask is as follows. You talked a lot about pensions and that they will increase. What will happen with scholarships? Because students are required to work and that affects how we learn. So we are working, earning, bribing the teachers, and thats how we graduate...

• Category

  News & Politics

[cfdcolin1979]

wow!