Quotes from Vladimir Putin

I think it's fine when the mayor of the biggest city in Russia consults the president.

My parents told me that children were taken from their families in 1941, and my mother had a child taken from her - with the goal of saving him.

Economic activity is moving from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean... Russia has a certain natural advantage because it also borders the Pacific Ocean.

The Russian parliament has condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Chechnya is part and parcel of the Russian Federation.

Russia and China are very natural partners. We are neighbors with an immense common border.

Terrorism has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human victims. An end must be put to this. As never before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror.

If the nation is not capable of preserving itself and reproducing, if it loses it vital bearings and ideals, then it doesn't need foreign enemies - it will fall apart on its own.

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

We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

Nobody should pin their hopes on a miracle.

At a certain point, we saw the police cracking down on the Occupy Wall Street activists. I won't call the actions of police appropriate or inappropriate.

At least in Russia, you cannot just go and tap into someone's phone conversation without a warrant issued by court. That's more or less the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.

Indeed, Russia and the U.S. were allies during the two tragic conflicts of the Second and the First World Wars, which allows us to think there's something objectively bringing us together in difficult times, and I think - I believe - it has to do with geopolitical interests and also has a moral component.

Nobody should have any illusion about the possibility of gaining military superiority over Russia. We will never allow this to happen.

I have never stated Russia is an energy superpower, but we have more reserves than almost anybody else. We have always behaved, and we will continue to behave, in a responsible way. We intend to participate in the elaboration of common rules in the energy sector and to abide by rules which are developed together.

It is necessary to suppress any extremist actions, on all sides, regardless of their origin.

I am sure that, after all, any man in my place should set a positive example for other people.

It's not considered polite in Russia to count the money in someone else's pocket.

How can a bureaucrat or a politician be trusted if he says loud words for the sake of Russia's good while trying to take his funds, his money abroad?

I was brought up in a very ordinary family, in fact, a worker's family. Both my father and mother were ordinary citizens.

Economic crimes are complex in nature, difficult to untangle, and they must be investigated according to the procedures set by the law.

The issues of political nature should be solved in any country, including in Syria, primarily by its people.

Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?