MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Russia has friends across the globe, both in the East and the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a meeting of the "Movement of the First" Children’s and Youth Movement’s supervisory board.
"We have a lot of friends everywhere - in the West, in the East, in the North, and in the South. All over the world. And we have substantially more friends than those who do not really understand us very well," the president pointed out.
"There are people in the so-called West <…> who do not understand Russia. But this does not prevent us from living and growing. This should only encourage us to expand the number of people who understand us and want to live in peace and friendship with us," he added.
"We will succeed in this area if we actively and effectively work among other things, and perhaps most importantly, with young people - children, teenagers, who are the foundation of the country’s future and cherish this country, who recognize that family and the motherland are among life’s greatest values," the Russian leader emphasized.
"People like you understand this, and I very much hope that you will pass this down to the next generation," Putin told an officer who has dedicated himself to working with children.