MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. The interests of Russia as an exclusively sovereign state that can stand up for its future may command global respect, Russian President Vladimir Putin told VGTRK reporter Pavel Zarubin in an interview.

The unfriendly Western attitudes toward Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union have shown that Russia will not be taken seriously "unless we act as an independent, sovereign state that can defend its future," Putin said with confidence.

The head of state opined that Russia should aim toward leadership in strategic fields and do so based on its traditional values to be a success story. "If we develop based on these moral, historic, and traditional values, we will certainly succeed," he emphasized.