VLADIVOSTOK, September 5. /TASS/. Russia is an open country; it neither seeks to isolate itself from anyone nor lock itself away in "a national shell;" notably, Russia’s two-headed eagle looks not only to the west and the east, but also to the south, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). The president remarked that though the bear is a symbol of Russia, "the largest tiger in the world is the Siberian, Russian tiger."
TASS has gathered the key takeaways from the statements by the president.
According to the Russian leader, he has repeatedly been asked who can be trusted in these difficult times, and has always given the same answer. "No one can be trusted," the president emphasized. "In order to understand a matter more deeply, you should be guided by your own experience and ask for the opinion of experts rather than the people who simply surf the Internet and share their views."
Ukraine’s security issues cannot be resolved without taking Russia’s security into account. Security guarantees need to be developed both for Russia and Ukraine, and Moscow will respect them. If NATO troops are deployed to Ukraine – and this is "one of the underlying causes behind attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO" – Russia will see them as a legitimate target.
