Russian President Vladimir Putin says that because of its imperial ambitions the United States will repeat the fate of the USSR. ‘The United States acts like an empire as did the USSR. Some countries are threatened, others are bribed’, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the heads of international news agencies at the SPIEF. 

‘A common problem for empires, the Russian leader added, is that when one country does not reckon and reason with others, it collapses.’

‘We hear threats continuing from Congress, from somewhere else. All this is done in the course of the internal political processes of the United States. They seem to proceed from the fact that the power, economic, US, military power, political, is such that the US is omnipotent, it must be obeyed, that it will survive, so they think,’ Putin said.

‘I will tell you as a former citizen of the former Soviet Union. What is the problem with empires, they think that they are so powerful that they can afford small mistakes. We will buy these governments, we will scare these governments, we will come to an agreement with these regimes, we will give them beads, and we will threaten them with warships, ‘the head of state added.

For ‘empires’ like the United States, Putin said, doing so would lead to ‘problem-solving,’ but in fact, the exact opposite is happening. ‘There comes a time when you can’t cope with them. And the United States, with a confident gait, is walking straight along the path of the Soviet Union,’ he said.

The head of state also answered a question about the law on foreign agents, stressing that Russia only introduced the same rules that are in force in the United States, only on softer terms. He added that he does not understand why no one criticizes Washington in this regard.

‘Did we come up with the law on foreign agents? This was invented by the United States, many years ago, back in the last century. There is nothing original in our actions. And our law on foreign agents is much softer, ‘he said.

Also, Putin spoke about the opposition. According to him, in Russia, representatives of the non-systemic opposition work openly, but in any case, people involved in political activities must do so in accordance with the current law.

‘You can assess our political system in different ways. It develops in accordance with the level of development of Russian society. And please leave us the right to decide for ourselves how to organise this part of our life, ‘Putin said.

He cited as an example the trial of the defendants in the case of the storming of the Capitol.

‘They are facing very grave charges, including a conspiracy to seize power. They can get 15 to 25 years in prisons. You have not tried to inquire on what basis. Why are you only interested in our non-systemic opposition,’ the Russian President turned to foreign journalists.

Putin also rebuked the United States for the deterioration of relations, stressing that Russia was not the first to impose the sanctions. In his opinion, restrictions are imposed only because we exist. We will have to accept this, Russia is, was and will continue to be so,’ Putin said.

Earlier, the Russian President said that he was going to discuss in Geneva with his American counterpart Joseph Biden the settlement of acute regional conflicts, as well as the fight against terrorism, Ukraine, Belarus, Syria, the pandemic, the oil market, cyber cooperation, the arms and pharmaceutical markets. Source, translated by Michael Walsh.