Vladimir Putin

The Chechnya problem is a centuries-old problem. The thing is that today, fundamentalists and terrorists are exploiting those centuries-old problems to accomplish their own objectives that have nothing to do whatsoever with the interests of Chechnya.

I am the wealthiest man, not just in Europe, but in the whole world. I collect emotions. I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia - I believe that is my greatest wealth.

Despite all the achievements of civilisation, the human being is still one of the most vulnerable creatures on earth.

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

Nobody and nothing will stop Russia on the road to strengthening democracy and ensuring human rights and freedoms.

No references to the need to fight terror can be an argument for restricting human rights.

The transfer of power is always a test of the constitutional system, a test of its strength.

Whoever does not miss the Soviet Union has no heart. Whoever wants it back has no brain.

The United States has overstepped its borders in all spheres - economic, political and humanitarian - and has imposed itself on other states.

Russian democracy is the power of the Russian people with their own traditions of national self-government, and not the realisation of standards foisted on us from outside.

There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy.

The unjustified swelling of the budgetary deficit and the accumulation of public debts are just as destructive as adventurous stock-jobbing.