MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Russia wants friendship with other nations but will defend its interests, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, commenting on President Vladimir Putin’s words that Russia would "knock out the teeth" of those who seek to "bite off chunks" of its land.
"The president was quite clear about the constant of our philosophy. We want to be friends with all but this friendship should actually be friendship in deed," he said in an interview with the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.
According to Peskov, it should be real friendship but not "mentoring, not dictation, not deception, not double standards." "And we know how to be friends," he stressed.
"But we will never let anyone lay claims to what belongs to us. We are strong enough to do that," he noted.
Addressing a meeting of the Victory Organizing Committee on May 20, Putin said that Russia was seeing periodic attempts to "bite off" some part of Russia. "Everyone wants to bite us somewhere and bite chunks off of us. But those who intend to do it should bear in mind that we will knock their teeth out so that they can’t bite anymore," he stressed, adding that the development of the national armed forces was the guarantee.