BISHKEK, October 13. /TASS/. Ukraine, while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of States, initially shied away from full cooperation, and Moldova is losing its identity altogether, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a meeting involving a limited circle of high officials of the Council of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Heads of State, which is currently convening in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian leader warned against a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, expressed readiness to mediate in the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and pointed out that the CIS remains a valuable and effective platform.
TASS has summarized Putin's main statements.
On CIS
"Despite the unprecedented Western sanctions pressure, their threats to apply so-called secondary sanctions against those who continue to work in bilateral formats with Russia and Belarus, our economic ties and exchanges within the CIS are constantly expanding."
"All [Russia's partners] are being pressured, even - harassed, intimidated, to sway them. But the leaders of the CIS countries <...> are still people who are guided first and foremost by national interests."
On absent CIS members
The CIS "remains a reliable and undoubtedly valuable and effective platform for cooperation," although some member countries - Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine - "do not work in this format."
Thus, Ukraine signed but never ratified the basic documents on the CIS: "It initially, in fact, avoided full cooperation."
"A country like Moldova is practically losing its identity. The country's elites don't consider themselves Moldovans at all. They call themselves Romanians."
On situation in Middle East
"The huge tragedy that Israelis and Palestinians are now experiencing is a direct result of the failed policies of the US in the Middle East."
Israel "has been subjected to an attack of unprecedented brutality and of course has the right to defend itself. Nevertheless, the conflict must be resolved by peaceful means."
The Kremlin has heard whispers about plans for a ground operation in Gaza, but this is fraught with "serious consequences for all sides." "Civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable."
Russia believes that the conflict can only be resolved through negotiations aiming to create an independent Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.
On Nagorno-Karabakh
"On the agenda is the drafting of a peace treaty [between Baku and Yerevan] to finally put an end to this longstanding conflict. The Russian side is certainly ready to provide our partners with all possible assistance in this regard." "In particular, we also agree with [the possibility] of organizing negotiations in Moscow, if necessary, in any format."
On Russian economy
"In general, Russia is implementing all its economic plans, all its plans for social development."
This year, the Russian economy will grow "close to 3%," and what’s more, its structure is changing: "In the growth structure, 3% of this is in the oil and gas sector, and 43% is industrial production."
"That is, what we used to buy abroad in large quantities - not everything, of course, it's impossible to do everything at once - but a lot of it is already beginning to be produced in Russia."
On honoring Nazi in Canadian Parliament
"It was wild to see this terrible situation in the Canadian Parliament, when everyone stood together and applauded a former Nazi, a soldier of the SS Galician Division. It's just disgusting."
"The speaker of the [Canadian] Parliament explicitly said that this man fought against the Russians during World War II. Don't they know that the Nazis fought the Russians, that Hitler fought the Russians? I mean, they know that. They couldn't help but know that if he was fighting the Russians, he was also fighting the Canadians. And so, theoretically, you can imagine that he also killed Canadians, because Canada, as you know, was part of the anti-Hitler coalition."
"In European countries and in the US, very few people know about this. If information appears there, it is immediately ‘silenced,’ muted. But if they take this approach, we can expect the revival of Nazism on a global scale."