MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he quite agrees with a phrase once coined by Russian Emperor Alexander III to the effect "everybody is scared by Russia’s vastness" and that the country has just two allies - the army and the navy.
"I would like to remind you Alexander III, our emperor, once said that Russia has just two allies, the armed forces and the navy. In a message addressed to his son he warned that everybody feels scared at the vastness of Russia. Incidentally, there is a certain reason behind that," Putin said during the Direct Line question-and-answer session televised live on Thursday.
At the moment there are many countries and leaders in the world who support Russia’s efforts in the struggle with international terrorism, organized crime, xenophobia, and other modern challenges, he said.
"We have very good relations within the framework of various associations, for instance, BRICS. There is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. These are not military organizations, but they are our allies, which whom we have been cooperating very tightly and advancing relations," Putin said.
As a military-political alliance he mentioned the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Russia maintains very close relations of alliance with its member-states.
"I proceed from the assumption that we are not going to have a war with anybody. We will certainly be strengthening our defence precisely for the sake of ensuring nobody develops the wish to be at war with Russia," Putin said.