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Putin stresses US can’t go on using Russia as ‘the enemy’ forever

The Russian leader noted that "currently US influence is somehow strengthening" in Europe at the expense of Eastern European states

NEW YORK, June 15. /TASS/. Washington won’t be able to constantly use Moscow to conjure up an image of an external enemy and enhance control over other countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with US filmmaker Oliver Stone.

Stone conducted a dozen interviews with Putin between 2015 and February 2017 for his four-part documentary on topics ranging from Russian-US relations, Syria, Ukraine to domestic policy, gay rights and Edward Snowden. The Putin Interviews premiered on the Showtime TV channel in the United States on June 12 and will continue through June 15. The documentary’s third series was released on Wednesday.

The Russian leader argued that "currently US influence is somehow strengthening" in Europe, also at the expense of Eastern European countries. "That’s because they are still in a paradigm of standoff against another dominator like the former Soviet Union. All this shifts to modern Russia, but sooner or later this will end," Putin emphasized.

Through initiating the crisis in Ukraine, the United States "managed to whip up such sentiment towards Russia, as if it were an enemy, a potential aggressor." "But very soon everyone is going to understand, that there is no threat whatsoever emanating from Russia, either towards the Baltic countries, or towards Eastern Europe, or towards Western Europe. As the understanding of this increases, there will be a stronger desire to enhance sovereignty and protect national interests."

Putin noted that "no one is excited when constantly feeling external pressure and sooner or later this will produce a result." "This will take some time, but it will happen. However, it is better if this happens calmly and through normal dialogue," he added.

"Certainly, they can again stir up threats also in the Asian region, using North Korea or other countries," the Russian president said. Nevertheless, there is a high demand in elaborating another approach to relations based on "respect for the interests of other nations, their sovereignty, and not simply intimidation by any kind of external threat, which can be countered only with the help of the US," he pointed out. "This paradigm will come to an end soon."