Comments by "Caroline Collett" (@carolinecollett956) on "Fox Business" channel.

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  19. BBC BREAKFAST WITH FROST INTERVIEW: VLADIMIR PUTIN MARCH 5TH, 2000 Please note “BBC Breakfast with Frost” must be credited if any part of this transcript is used DAVID FROST: Time now to turn to the east and that interview, 15 years ago the soviet Union was an undisputed superpower, a military force whose power stretched from the Baring Straits to Berlin but President Gorbachev’s introduction of Glasnost and Perestroika unleashed forces that partly led ultimately to the break up of the old USSR and the downfall of the Communist Party as the all-powerful force in the state. [FILM CLIP - Reference to Putin coming to power as Prime Minister, then acting President] DAVID FROST: In this his first television interview with a Western or indeed a foreign journalist since he entered the Kremlin I asked him about relations with the West, Chechnya and his background in the KGB, but I started by asking him about his stated determination to make Russia strong again, was this, as some have feared, an indication of a throwback to the days of the Cold War? PUTIN: My position is that our country should be a strong, powerful state, a capable state, effective, in which both its citizens of the Russian Federation and all those who want to co-operate with Russia could feel comfortable, could feel protected, could always feel in their own shoes - if you will allow the expression - psychologically, morally. But that has nothing to do with aggression. If we again and again go back to the terminology of the cold war we are never going to discard attitudes and problems that humanity had to grapple with a mere 15-20 years ago. We in Russia have to a large extent rid ourselves of what is related to the cold war. Regrettably , it appears that our partners in the west are all too often still in the grip of old notions and tend to picture Russia as a potential aggressor. That is a completely wrong conception of our country. It gets in the way of developing normal relations in Europe and indeed the world. DAVID FROST: Looking at the opinion polls today, which show you at approx. 60 percent and Zyuganov approx. at 23 percent. You must be very happy.
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  83. PUTIN: Outside the framework of this interview we talked about sports a little. You know that I have been into sports since I was a kid, I like sports. We have always been taught that any partner, any opponent should be treated with respect. That means that in some ways he may be stronger than you, so I am not inclined to believe that I am assured of victory, that I have it in my hand, that the campaign is over. I don't think I have a right to consider myself a winner. Gennady Zyuganov and his Communist party enjoy a substantial base of support.. DAVID FROST: Let's move on now to the subject of Chechnya. First of all, could you explain to me, you said once about this entire part of the federation has been occupied by the criminal world and turned into a fortress. What is it that makes you feel so strongly about Chechnya? PUTIN: When I think about Chechnya my first thoughts are that the Chechen people have fallen victim to international extremism, I think that rank and file people in Chechnya suffer because of the policies conducted by Russia over the past few years. Let's face it: Chechnya enjoyed de-facto - and I want to stress that - de-facto - complete independence since 1996. Regrettably, no coherent state structure ever came into being in Chechnya. And then extremist forces took advantage of that vacuum, they broke up the territory of the Chechen republic into a maze of small separate entities - outside the framework of any constitution, any legal foundation - each headed by a warlord, a so-called field commander. So what we got was like a mini-Afghanistan. The warlords became the real masters of these tiny entities within a small and, doubtless, a proud nation. And that precipitated the tragedy with which we are confronted today. Those extremist forces began reclaiming this territory, as it were. Arms were supplied to them from outside the country, money began to flow, mercenaries began to arrive. It should also be said that in these few years 220 thousand ethnic Russians left the territory of the republic - just think of that - that about 550-600 thousand Chechens. They all voted with their feet, they all fled from that regime. Last summer there was a completely unprovoked attack on the territory of the republic of Dagestan which borders on Chechnya….. the bandits then bombed several residential blocks in Moscow, Volgodonsk and other regions of the Russian Federation. As a symbol of their revenge they killed almost 1500 ordinary residents in those blasts. And from that moment on it became crystal clear to us that unless we deliver a blow at the very lair of terrorism, at the bases situated in the territory of the Chechen republic, we would never be able to rid ourselves of this scourge, this gangrene. With their actions the terrorists forced us to pursue this option - and I just don't think they expected us to act as resolutely as we did.
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  105. DAVID FROST: Is it possible Russia could join NATO? PUTIN: I don't see why not. I would not rule out such a possibility - but I repeat - if and when Russia's views are taken into account as those of an equal partner. I want to stress this again and again. The situation that was laid down in the founding principles of the United Nations - that was the situation that obtained in the world at the end of World War Two. All right, the situation may have changed. Let's assume there is a desire on the part of those who perceive the change to install new mechanisms of ensuring international security. But pretending - or proceeding from the assumption - that Russia has nothing to do with it and trying to exclude it from this process is hardly feasible. And when we talk about our opposition to NATO's expansion - mind you, we have never ever declared any region of the world a zone of our special interests, I prefer to talk about strategic partnership. Its attempts to exclude us from the process is what causes opposition and concern on our part. But that does not mean we are going to shut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Isolationism is not an option. DAVID FROST: You worked of course in Europe, in Germany, for several years, but have you in fact ever been to Britain or the United States? PUTIN: I have twice been to the United States on very short visits, on business. And I have been to Britain a couple of times at the invitation of the Foreign Office together with the former mayor of St. Petersburg Mr. Sobchak. We have been to Edinburgh, London and Manchester. Manchester and St. Petersburg are sister-cities and have for a long time maintained very close ties.
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