Quotes By Vladimir Putin

It's better to be hanged for loyalty than rewarded for betrayal.

The ability to compromise is not a diplomatic politeness toward a partner but rather taking into account and respecting your partner's legitimate interests.

I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives.

You must obey the law, always, not only when they grab you by your special place.

Elton John, he's an extraordinary person, a distinguished musician. And millions of our people sincerely love him, regardless of his sexual orientation.

We must stop using the language of force [on Syria] and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been, and remains, an inseparable part of Russia.. Don't believe those who try to frighten you with Russia, who scream that other regions will follow after Crimea. We do not want a partition of Ukraine. We do not need this.

He [Donald Trump] is not my bride. I am not his bride, nor his groom.

Russia condemns North Korea's exercises, we consider that they are a provocation but ramping up military hysteria will lead to nothing good. It could lead to a global catastrophe.

Even 50 years ago, the streets of Leningrad taught me one thing: if a fight is inevitable, go and fight first.

One has to be insincere and promise something which you cannot fulfill. So you either have to be a fool who does not understand what you are promising, or deliberately be lying.

I have always loved and avidly read the novels of Jack London, Jules Verne and Ernest Hemingway. The characters depicted in their books, who are brave and resourceful people embarking on exciting adventures, definitely shaped my inner self and nourished my love for the outdoors.

History proves that all dictatorships, all authoritarian forms of government are transient. Only democratic systems are not transient. Whatever the shortcomings, mankind has not devised anything superior.

Russia does not have in its possession any trustworthy data that supports the existence of nuclear weapons or any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we have not received any such information from our partners as yet.

If one looks at the map of the world, it's difficult to find Iraq, and one would think it rather easy to subdue such a small country.

I'm eternally grateful to fate and the citizens of Russia that they've trusted me to be the head of the Russian government. This is my whole life. If that's enough for happiness is a separate theme.

The United Nations' founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America's consent, the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used, not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists.

Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.

Russia is a part of European culture. Therefore, it is with difficulty that I imagine NATO as an enemy.