Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, December 4, to attend the 23rd India-Russia Summit amid multiple other programs scheduled over his two-day state visit. After landing at Palam Airport in New Delhi, an exclusive interview of the Russian President with India Today was aired.
Here are five key takeaways from the Russian President's interview
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Five key points from Vladimir Putin's interview
1. The Russian President claimed that the conflict was not started by them, but it was Ukraine which pulled Russia into the war, and that he will finish it after his goals are met.
2. On his relationship with India and PM Narendra Modi, Putin told India Today, "We have very trustworthy and friendly relations. He is a very reliable person. In that sense, I'm speaking very sincerely. India got lucky. He lives and breathes India."
3. On the development of Russian intelligence services, President Putin commented that Russia, the CIA (USA) and Mossad (Israel) are a few of the many powerful intelligence organisations in the world, and it would be better to not talk much about those. However, he expressed his satisfaction with how the Russian intelligence agencies have become better over the years.
4. President Putin called out the double-standards of US President Donald Trump on fuel purchase and said, "The US continues to buy nuclear fuel from us for their nuclear power plants. That is also fuel. Energy. This is uranium for nuclear power plants that are functioning in the US."
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5. On NATO's expansion and Ukraine, the Russian President said, "NATO is another matter altogether. The Russian language, its culture, the Russian religion and even territorial issues - these are very important topics, one subject. NATO is something entirely different. We don’t demand anything exclusive for ourselves here."
Vladimir Putin sat down for the interview with India Today's Anjana Om Kashyap and Geeta Mohan in Moscow, before he boarded his Delhi-bound 'Flying Kremlin' flight. His itinerary for December 5 will begin with a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan, and end in the evening with meeting President Droupadi Murmu yet again after attending the India-Russia Summit. He is set to depart at around 9 PM.
