🎙 Answers by President of Russia Vladimir Putin to media questions following his working visit to Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek, September 1, 2026)

Key points:

#RussiaUS

• Contacts between Russia and the US have always existed, even during the most difficult periods of the Cold War, and they continue today.

• Direct contacts are maintained between the Heads of the intelligence services. Quite recently, we returned a US citizen to the American Side who had been serving a prison sentence in Russia.

• We are absolutely comfortable working with people we know well and generally trust. They are close to President Trump, sincere people who are trying to give our work concrete substance. And President Trump trusts them, which is very important. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are therefore always welcome guests in Russia, and we are pleased to work with them.

#UkrainianCrisis #NATO

• We believe that negotiations – any negotiations – should above all have concrete substance. If someone is capable of making a positive contribution to a negotiating process that is currently, to a certain extent, frozen, we have no objection. What is needed here are specialists, military experts and diplomats.

• The collective West was given a very apt description back in Soviet times – the sharks of imperialism. If anyone tries to drag us down the food chain and devour us, they may well get their teeth knocked out. Russia is ready to do that, despite the rapidly growing appetites – and teeth – of these sharks.

• Despite everything, Russian forces continue to increase the pace of their advance in the special military operation zone.

• Strikes continue against Ukrainian military facilities, industrial enterprises, ports and logistics infrastructure used in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces – in response, as is well known, to the Kiev regime’s continuing attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, fuel and energy facilities and oil refineries.

❗️ Any military facilities in Ukraine are legitimate targets for us – British or otherwise.

• The Russian Armed Forces have been instructed to prepare and carry out large-scale strikes against Ukraine’s energy facilities. They strike ours – they will get a response.

#Germany #Leipzig

• As for the actions of the German authorities, they are primarily driven by Germany’s domestic political situation.

• Chancellor Merz is in a difficult domestic political position and does not enjoy the confidence of his citizens. It is clear why: he is not defending Germany’s national interests, but trading them away. There are obvious economic failures – businesses are closing, people are losing their jobs and living standards are falling.

• [Germany's recent move] is yet another mistake – a serious one – and, in my view, one that clearly runs counter to the interests of the German people.

#Japan

• We have not taken a single step toward worsening Russia-Japan relations. We treated them with great care. Everything happening now in Russia-Japan relations, including their deterioration, is entirely of the Japanese government’s making.

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