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Digest of Medvedev's quotes at Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C.

© POOL / Go to the mediabankDigest of Medvedev's quotes at Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Digest of Medvedev's quotes at Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. - Sputnik International
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After the end of the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the Brookings Institute, a leading U.S. think tank.

After the end of the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the Brookings Institute, a leading U.S. think tank.

Following are Medvedev's quotes from his speech at the Brookings Institute:

About Russian-U.S. relations

"I am glad that in the past year plus we have managed to change the atmosphere of Russian-American relations [for the better]"

"We have managed to change the atmosphere, there are results from it. I am pleased that I played a part in it"

"We have a complicated history of relations. We either started suffocating each other in embraces or created a great rift between us. We shouldn't look for differences, we should create long-term pragmatic relations based on the common democratic and economic values of freedom, and common goals in the fight against global threats "

About Russian-U.S. arms reduction treaty

A top Russian senator, Mikhail Margelov, asked the president when the treaty will be submitted to parliament. Medvedev asked: "When will the Americans submit [it]?"

"In the first week of May," was the reply from the audience.

"We can do it at the same time in the form of a package solution," a laughing Medvedev said.

"In the morning we'll get in contact with President Obama over the phone, and I will ask him: 'Are you submitting it?' If he is, then I will submit [it], too."

About Russia's economy

"Russia needs several decades of consistent and steady work to create an effective political and economical system. Only in this way will the existing differences be left in the past. For this to happen, we don't need to teach each other how to live"

"We have got a lot of things to work on in the economy, including issues in investment, improving the court system, and dealing with corruption. We realize our problems, but it's necessary that our partners realize theirs as well"

About further disarmament

"As regards further reduction of nuclear offensive potentials... You can have no doubt, we are ready for that"

"There are other kinds of weapons besides strategic forces, which need to be agreed on, as well as synchronizing their approaches. There are non-strategic nuclear forces as well. [There are other] issues like controlling threshold states trying to creep into the nuclear club using just or unjust approaches"

About Iran

"Now the necessity of introducing sanctions against Iran is much spoken about. The reason for such proposals is clear: Iran has still not reacted to constructive compromises it was offered"

"Iran has created particular problems. The most important thing now is to be sure of what the Iranian nuclear program really is. Unfortunately, Iran either ignores the issues addressed to it, or sloughs them off using ambiguous phrases. I of course wouldn't like to see sanctions imposed, but at a certain point they can become inevitable"

About Kyrgyzstan

"A few years have passed [after the tulip revolution in 2005], but in essence the mottos and people are the same... It is sad because Kyrgyzstan is our close neighbor, and the last thing I would want now is Kyrgyzstan turning into a might-have-been state"

"Kyrgyz authorities are responsible for the hard situation in Kyrgyzstan, which is again going through a phase of illegitimate development"

"The risk of Kyrgyzstan splitting into two parts - north and south - really exists... Kyrgyzstan is on the threshold of a civil war, and the forces in Kyrgyzstan should be aware of their responsibility before the Kyrgyz nation... and the existence of the Kyrgyz state"

"If, God forbid, this [civil war] happens, terrorists and extremists of every kind will rush into this niche"

"It is during such conflicts that a favorable ground for radicals and extremists is created, and then instead of Kyrgyzstan we get a second Afghanistan before already familiar measures were taken. That's why our task is to help [our] Kyrgyz partners find the most peaceful way of overcoming this situation"

About WTO

"We want to enter the WTO, but this needs to be done quickly...But, unfortunately, there have been no results so far... we are really counting on support to force Russia's WTO accession"

"These procedures can be easily harmonized and everybody wins from it"

About Nuclear Security Summit

"Our meeting will be held after the summit [Nuclear Security Summit]. I would like to say it has ended with great success. I cannot recall a more trouble-free summit when the participants were so unanimous in the assessment of the current situation. It is not like discussing the economy, or talking about getting over the global crisis, it is nonetheless something that serves a real challenge and a real threat for any state taking part in the summit"

"I would like to thank you for listening to my responses for so long"

MOSCOW, April 14 (RIA Novosti) 

 

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