ST. PETERSBURG, June 19. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the United States against the intention of speaking to Russia in an ultimatum-like language and urged it to let Moscow decide its own needs.
"The problem is we are confronted with attempts at dictating standards and solutions in defiance of our interests," Putin said at a full-scale meeting of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "In fact, the United States is telling us ‘We are better.’ In other words, the United States knows better what we need."
"Please, let us make decisions regarding our interests and requirements on our own, proceeding from our history and culture," Putin said, adding that the United States was seeking to "meddle with our domestic political processes, including through financing the non-government sector and imposing decision in the sphere on international security."
Putin recalled discussions of the situation in Iraq before the deployment of international forces in that country. "He who is not with us is against us," the president said, describing the United States’ stance. "This is not a dialogue, this is an ultimatum," Putin said. "It is not right to speak the language of ultimatums with us."
The president however noted that he hopes common global goals of Russia and the United States will allow the two countries to improve ties.
"We are united by the wish to still work against common threats like terrorism, spread of drug threat and a likely and very dangerous tendency towards a possible proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Putin said at the St. Petersburg forum.
Besides, this is the fight against very difficult infectious diseases that affect the whole regions, the president added.
"There are issues linked to global economy, energy and other spheres where the cooperation that we have established is not bad, in general," Putin said. "I expect that this will serve as a basis that will allow us to restore the former level of ties with the US and move on," he said.