06:02Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the XXI Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, stated the current geopolitical situation affects contacts between the world leaders.
"Today's conditions are very peculiar, they put an imprint on everything, including our [relations]. <...> I also had normal relations with [Republican Party candidate Donald] Trump. I don't know if he wants to talk to me now or not. I had normal relations with [US President Joe] Biden as well. We met with him in Switzerland, we chatted, we talked on the phone, we called each other, we joked, we laughed," the president noted.
Putin added that sovereignty is 'one of key and vital foundations of Russia's development and its existence in the future'.
"I would not like Russia to return to the path it followed until 2022. <...> It was a path that involved covert, veiled intervention against our country, aimed at subjugating it to the interests of some other countries that thought they had the right to do so. Russia cannot exist in a subordinate or semi-subordinate condition," Putin said.
The XXI Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, themed 'A Lasting Peace - On What Basis? Universal Security and Equal Opportunities for Development in the 21st Century', took place in Sochi from October 4 to 7. The event hosted 140 experts, politicians, and diplomats from 50 countries across Eurasia, Africa, North America, and South America.
'I don't know if he wants to talk to me now or not' - Putin claims he had 'normal' relations with Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the XXI Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, stated the current geopolitical situation affects contacts between the world leaders.
"Today's conditions are very peculiar, they put an imprint on everything, including our [relations]. <...> I also had normal relations with [Republican Party candidate Donald] Trump. I don't know if he wants to talk to me now or not. I had normal relations with [US President Joe] Biden as well. We met with him in Switzerland, we chatted, we talked on the phone, we called each other, we joked, we laughed," the president noted.
Putin added that sovereignty is 'one of key and vital foundations of Russia's development and its existence in the future'.
"I would not like Russia to return to the path it followed until 2022. <...> It was a path that involved covert, veiled intervention against our country, aimed at subjugating it to the interests of some other countries that thought they had the right to do so. Russia cannot exist in a subordinate or semi-subordinate condition," Putin said.
The XXI Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, themed 'A Lasting Peace - On What Basis? Universal Security and Equal Opportunities for Development in the 21st Century', took place in Sochi from October 4 to 7. The event hosted 140 experts, politicians, and diplomats from 50 countries across Eurasia, Africa, North America, and South America.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the XXI Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, stated the current geopolitical situation affects contacts between the world leaders.
"Today's conditions are very peculiar, they put an imprint on everything, including our [relations]. <...> I also had normal relations with [Republican Party candidate Donald] Trump. I don't know if he wants to talk to me now or not. I had normal relations with [US President Joe] Biden as well. We met with him in Switzerland, we chatted, we talked on the phone, we called each other, we joked, we laughed," the president noted.
Putin added that sovereignty is 'one of key and vital foundations of Russia's development and its existence in the future'.
"I would not like Russia to return to the path it followed until 2022. <...> It was a path that involved covert, veiled intervention against our country, aimed at subjugating it to the interests of some other countries that thought they had the right to do so. Russia cannot exist in a subordinate or semi-subordinate condition," Putin said.
The XXI Annual Meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, themed 'A Lasting Peace - On What Basis? Universal Security and Equal Opportunities for Development in the 21st Century', took place in Sochi from October 4 to 7. The event hosted 140 experts, politicians, and diplomats from 50 countries across Eurasia, Africa, North America, and South America.