Putin's question time
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Berezovskaya: To the British destroyer near the Crimea. Don't you think that at that time the world was no more and no less than on the threshold of the Third World War?
Putin: No, I don't think so. Is this a question, or…
Berezovskaya: We have received questions on this subject.
Putin: I don't think so. Let me explain what I believe and what I don't believe on this.
First of all, of course, this was a provocation. It is quite clear that it was a provocation. What did these provocateurs want to show and what goals were they trying to achieve?
First of all, it was very complex and it was done not only by the British but also by the Americans, because the British came into our waters in the afternoon, but early in the morning, at 7:30, an American strategic reconnaissance aircraft took off from one of the NATO military airfields in Greece, from Crete, I think. Of course, I was told about it, I know that very well. If I remember correctly, the aircraft had the number 63/9792. We saw it well, observed it. It was obvious that the destroyer came and primarily pursued military goals, it wanted to use the spy plane to uncover the actions of our armed forces, with which they respond to such provocations. The plane wanted to see what we were doing, where what was turned on, how it worked, what was located where. We saw that and we knew it, so we gave them the information we thought they needed. Maybe I said a little too much, the military may forgive me. That is the first one.
The second is the political component. We just had a meeting in Geneva a few days before. The question is, why was such a provocation necessary? What is all this being done for? To emphasize that these people have no respect for the decision of the people of Crimea to join the Russian Federation? Do they not recognize that there? All right, then let them not recognize it. But what are they carrying out such provocations for?
Asker-Sade: Maybe NATO wants to annoy us? After all, the Sea Breeze maneuver is also taking place now, yesterday there was a Dutch frigate.
Putin: Yes, do you understand what this is about? You said the world is on the brink of a world war. No, of course not. Even if we had sunk that ship, it would still be hard to imagine that the world is on the brink of World War III, because those who do that know that they cannot come out of this war as victors. That is a very important thing.
I don't think we ourselves would be happy about the developments you are talking about, but at least we know what we are fighting for: we are fighting for ourselves, for our future on our territory. We are not the ones who have come over thousands of kilometers or have come by water. They have come to our borders and violated our territorial waters and that is an essential element in this whole construction.
But that is not even what worries me, or that someone is not respecting the decision of the people of Crimea to join Russia. I am concerned about something else. You see, there has been a lot of fuss about the fact that we are conducting maneuvers on our territory near the Ukrainian borders. In case anyone is interested, I instructed the Ministry of Defense to quietly withdraw the troops. That is what we have done. But instead of responding positively to that and saying, okay, well, we understand your reaction-instead, they did what? They have come to our limits.
Berezovskaya: Mr. President, you said in your speech to the Federal Assembly that biting Russia is already like a sport. That means that this was also an attempt to bite us.
Putin: No, not biting. I repeat, that is not what worries me, I am worried about something else, something more fundamental, namely the beginning of militarization of Ukrainian territory. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, there can be no foreign military bases there. Training centers can be established, other forms can be used. The military development of the territory directly adjacent to us creates significant security problems for us. This is already affecting the vital interests of the Russian Federation and the people of Russia. Of course, this is a cause for concern and we need to think about it.
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