Oliver Stone - The Putin Interviews

OS:You mentioned the parliament passed a law, but has parliament ever passed anything of major consequence against you in recent memory, against your administration.

VP:If I am against this or that law I can just not sign it and then it is regarded as rejected. But as to this law, I have to tell you this was not an initiative of mine, it was an initiative of—

OS:Can you point to an issue where the parliament disagreed with you on a major issue?

VP:You know, we sometimes, quite often have situations when we are required to have very thorough negotiations with different factions of the parliament. And these consultations often prove difficult. And these difficult consultations are certainly those related to social and economic matters. Right now we are at the stage where we’re working actively on next year’s budget. And there are many options, many forks.

OS:Okay, they’re pushing us for time so quick answers if possible. The Arctic—I’m hearing rumors that this is the next race between the US and Russia.

VP:There are three major issues related to the Arctic. I’m no military specialist, but I don’t think that I’m going to divulge some secret if I say that this territory, the North Pole, has the trajectories of ballistic missiles going over—both the US missiles and Russian missiles. Let me remind you that the so-called flight assignments of both American missiles and Russian missiles are aimed at each others sites, which is regrettable. And these trajectories are right over the Arctic. And considering the deployment of the ABM system by Americans, including the Aegis systems and their military vessels, and in the North Sea, we’re certainly contemplating ways to protect our territory. The Arctic is of great strategic importance because it helps us to secure our defense capabilities, which secure the country.

OS:It’s not about oil or anything like that?

VP:No, absolutely not. Secondly, mineral resources. And we’ve started to extract hydrocarbons in the Arctic seas—a couple of years ago we started it. And there might be many discussions, but I think that all these arguments, controversies can and should be resolved within the framework of the existing international law. The international law of the seas. We had long discussions with Norway on certain parts of the border. And we managed to arrive at an agreement on all the controversial issues. And there is the third element—the transport element. Given the fact of global warming, the period of time each year when this part of the planet can be used for navigation purposes is becoming longer. In the past, we can only use two or three weeks for vessels to go through the North Sea. Right now, these routes can be used for several months. And it decreases significantly the costs of supplies from Europe to Asia, from Asia to Europe, and even to the United States. And that’s another reason why this region is becoming so important. Very interesting. There are certainly other considerations, but these are the three main elements I believe. That’s why many countries of the world—not just the Artic countries—are showing interest in this region. We have the Artic council, we’ve fostered a toolkit for cooperation. I believe all these instruments are going to be employed, and we’re going to seek mutual understanding on all of these most important issues.

OS:Your Muslim population in Moscow—I was shocked to read that you have the largest Muslim population in Europe—larger than any other city.

VP:Not entirely true. Muslims make up 10 to 12 percent of the whole population of Russia. In France I think the percentage is the same. [85] Background Information: Putin is right on the money in terms of his estimate that Muslims make up about 12% of the Russian population, and shall make up about 20% by the year 2030. He is also correct that the absolute number of Muslims in Russia continues to grow, and indeed to far outpace the general population growth in Russia. Indeed, contrary to Putin’s claims, the overall population of Russia is actually in decline. See, “Russia’s Growing Muslim Population,” Strafor Enterprises (Aug. 8, 2013). Retrieved at: https://www.stratfor.com/image/russias-growing-muslim-population

OS:Okay, well France is fairly thickly-populated, but you’ve mentioned in the past the Russian ethnic population is diminishing.

VP:You know, fortunately we’ve managed to reverse this trend. And it’s the third consecutive year that we are witnessing a natural increase in the population, including in the regions which are traditionally populated by ethnic Russians. [86] Ibid. As to the inter-ethnic relations, this has always been a delicate issue—whenever, wherever. But Russia has certain advantages in this regard. Take Europe and the United States of today and you’ll see that people with other religions are mostly immigrants. Russia is different. Those people with other religions are Russians. And it is their homeland and they have none other. From the very beginning, Russia was emerging as a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country. And over a thousand years, we’ve nurtured a certain culture of interaction. Even Christianity in Russia is called Eastern Christianity. And it has many elements which might be reminiscent of Islam. We have very good relations, there’s been an inter-penetration between religion and culture. And those places where mixed population live—Christians and Muslims—there are many situations when people side-by-side celebrate both Muslim feast days and Christian holidays. And I think that based on these huge positive experiences, we will be able to surmount quite easily all those things, sensitive delicate issues of inter-ethnic and inter-religious interactions. Nevertheless, we should still pay close attention to these issues on a permanent basis.

OS:Are you for the Kyoto Protocol and will you sign it?

VP:We signed the Kyoto Protocol. The United States was against it [87] Background Information: Putin is correct that Russia signed the Kyoto Protocol which the US was one of the few countries in the world that refused to sign. See, “The Only Nations That Haven’t Signed 1997’s Global Climate Treaty are Afghanistan, Sudan & the USA,” Brian Merchant, Treehugger.com (Nov. 28, 2011). Retrieved at: https://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/only-nations-havent-signed-1997s-global-climate-treaty-are-afghanistan-us.html and it was difficult to reach an agreement with our Chinese friends—with India as well there were some difficulties. But Russia supported the Kyoto Protocol from the very beginning and we signed it. Certainly we are in talks. I mean, our territory covered by forests is the lungs of our planet. And we are not just making emissions, we are absorbing emissions and all that should be taken into account when a final decision on the issue is discussed.

OS:Are you going to the next meeting in Paris in December?

VP:I don’t know that. I have not yet made a decision that Russia is going to be represented there at a high level.

OS:Fernando, my producer, thinks you should go and represent Russia at a high level.

OS:In closing, I’m just going to say—you’ve said twice that I’m anti-American and that you don’t want to be dragged into it. I want to explain—I love my country. I love America. I grew up there. It’s like my mother. You have disagreements with your mother, sometimes, but you love her. Sometimes you love your mother and sometimes you hate her. It’s like your homeland. And I have disagreements with my country.