QUESTION: One of the questions I wanted to ask you has become evident over the course of today's discussion. What do you think about American misconceptions of Russia, the Russian people, you, the Government? What is the reason for this situation? If you were able to address the American people directly and say, "I think you should know the following facts about us. I think there are things you do not understand or maybe have not been told", what main misconceptions would you address?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I do not believe this is a case of misconceptions. I think that this is a deliberate attempt to create a certain image of Russia that can be used to influence our domestic and foreign policy.
     Russia has demonstrated on numerous occasions in word and in deed over the last 15 years that we want to be not just a partner but also a friend of America. But we sometimes have the impression that America does not need friends. We sometimes have the impression that the United States needs vassals it can command.
     We cannot build our relations with other countries on such principles. This situation constantly leads to friction, and this is the reason why people are always looking for problems within the country.
     This is the reason why we and all the others are told, "it's alright to pinch and criticise them a bit because they're still not quite civilised, they're still a bit wild, only came down from the trees not long ago, so we have to groom them a bit because they can't do it for themselves. We have to shave them, clean the grime from them. That's our civilising mission".
     But I think that this is really just an instrument for influencing Russia. It's not the right instrument. The right approach, as I said, is to look for compromise and take each other's interests into account.

     QUESTION: I have a personal question. When you were growing up, when you were a mid-level intelligence officer, did it ever enter your head that you would one day be running the country, especially at a time of change, a troubled time?
     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I never thought about it and of course it never entered my head.
     QUESTION: Does it still surprise you that it happened?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes, I think it does. I arrived in Moscow from St Petersburg in the summer of 1996. Three years later, in August 1999, I became prime minister, and another six months later I was elected President. When I arrived in Moscow in 1996, I had no real connections or friends to rely on. I came to Moscow because the man I worked with in St Petersburg, Mr Sobchak, lost the election and I simply did not have a chance of finding employment there, no one would take me on.

     QUESTION: How did it all happen then?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I'm amazed myself. It seems to me that it all happened because people close to First President Yeltsin realised that I would be absolutely sincere and would give everything to fulfilling my duties, would be honest with regard to the First President and would do all I could to protect the country's interests. I think this was the main motivation behind the decision of President Yeltsin and the people close to him when they made this proposal to me.

     QUESTION: So he saw something new in you, he saw something that suggested that you in particular would be able to handle this work?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes, I think so. We talked about this several times. The first time he made the proposal I answered with a refusal. For a start, I understood just what situation the country was in, and then, it was also a completely unexpected proposal for me. I said that I didn't know...

     QUESTION: You realised that this would be a difficult task and this made you hesitate?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes, of course. That was clear immediately after the 1998 default.
     I said that I wasn't sure, that this was a very difficult fate and that I wasn't sure whether I was ready for it or not. But President Yeltsin was insistent. He said, "We will come back to this conversation. I ask you not to say 'no'". So I said, "Alright then, we will talk about it again later".

     QUESTION: Can we talk a little about your relations today with Mr Yeltsin and Mr Gorbachev?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr Yeltsin passed away, as you know.

     RESPONSE: Yes, sorry.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: But we can talk about my relations with regard to the time when he headed Russia.

     QUESTION: Yes, please. You were not the sort of President he was, a revolutionary president?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes. Also I was never a top Soviet official, a party official or member of the Politburo, and I never worked in the regional party committees. Although I worked in the intelligence service, I was essentially just a rank and file Soviet citizen in as much as a member of the intelligence services can be one, while Mr Yeltsin was part of the upper echelon of the Soviet nomenklatura.
     But I think nevertheless that he and Gorbachev did what I could probably not have done. They took the step towards destroying a system that the Russian people could endure no longer. I am not sure I would have been able to take such a step. Gorbachev took the first step and Yeltsin completed what I think was a historic and very important transition for Russia and its people. Both of them, Yeltsin above all, of course, gave Russia freedom, and this is indisputably the historic achievement of the Yeltsin era.

     QUESTION: You have spoken very confidently about Russia's role in international affairs. People say that it was harder to carry out this policy at the start of your presidency, but now that you have become a very strong president, I want to ask you: when did you become a national leader? What determines this position? When were you able to say to yourself, "Yes, now I have become a true leader"?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: First of all, this is something I never thought about, just as I never thought that I would one day be President. And now, to be honest, I try not to think about it because I think that when people start to think they are somehow exceptional, some kind of exceptional leader, they start to lose touch with reality.
     I never called myself a national leader. It is others who have called me this. I did not think up this term and have never sought it. When I became President the country found itself unwillingly plunged into the chaos of civil war in the Caucasus and faced enormous economic difficulties, the collapse of the social sphere and a huge number of people living below the poverty line.
     I can say to you with all certainty that I did not just take this job, step into this office, as it were, but I decided for myself that I was ready to do everything I could, to make any sacrifice, in order to restore the country. I made this the main purpose of my life and I decided that my own life in the broad sense, my personal life and interests, therefore ended.
     Destiny has given me the chance to play a positive role in the history of my people, and I see myself as a part of this people and feel very strongly my connection to them. I have always felt this and I feel it now, and from the moment I made my decision I have subjugated my entire life to this goal.
     I think that these goals have been reached to a large extent. We now have other problems, just as big, that we must address, but these are already problems of a different kind, and we have every opportunity for making progress.
     So when you ask me when I first had this feeling of being a leader, I can say that I haven't had this feeling and I don't have it now. I feel like a work horse that is hauling along a cart filled with a heavy load, and I can tell you that the satisfaction I feel from my work depends on how rapidly and effectively I manage to make progress along this road.

     QUESTION: You said that you have not called yourself a national leader and that it is others who do so. But the issue remains of how does a national leader fit into the political system?
     There was a precedent in the sixteenth century when the tsar, Ivan Vasilyevich, for a number of reasons, left Moscow for Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, leaving Tsarevich Simeon Bekbulatovich in his place and formally declaring him tsar. All the nobles and officials had to pretend that the tsar was Simeon Bekbulatovich and that Ivan Vasilyevich was just a sort of temporary figure. Overall, this created a certain dissonance in society at that time. Is a repeat of this kind of collision possible?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: No, because we do not have a monarchy now but live within the framework of the Constitution, and everyone, including the state's top officials, needs to remember this. Everyone has to submit to the Constitution, and that is that.

     QUESTION: What about your trip to Belarus? In the long term, could it not lead to changes in state organisation?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Anything is possible in the long term. With regard to Belarus, we are talking about the possibility of creating a Union State, but fundamental issues such as these cannot be bound up with the interests of specific individuals.

     QUESTION: I want to come back to what you said about Mr Yeltsin and Mr Gorbachev. Theoreticians and political analysts sometimes say that it was a mistake on the part of Gorbachev and perhaps of Mr Yeltsin too that glasnost came first and only then perestroika. They say that if Gorbachev had done things the other way round, first perestroika and then glasnost, Russia would have been very different and would not have gone through all the trials it went through during the Yeltsin years. Do you think that this would have had a positive impact on Russia's development?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I do not think that democratisation, if glasnost is understood in this way, should have been postponed until later as a task of secondary importance. But it is also clear that market transformations should not have been delayed, and we have seen the results.

     QUESTION: Do you not see the 1990s as something of a paradox in this respect? On the one hand, you say it is a period that gave Russia freedom, but on the other hand, you often say that it was a time of total ruin and a great tragedy, referring to the collapse of the Soviet Union. How do you explain this paradox?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I do not see any paradox. The command economy system and the Communist Party's total domination of political life had brought the country to a point where most people no longer placed any value on the state. They did not need that state. So it was no surprise that they saw the state as they did and felt no regret at seeing it go, imagining that things could surely not be any worse without it. But then it became apparent that things could indeed be worse. The tragedy is that people's hopes were disappointed because freedom to do as one pleased was called democracy, and the theft of millions to enrich a few, the plunder of immense resources that belonged to the whole people, was called the market and market relations.
     What did the collapse of the Soviet Union mean? Twenty-five-million Soviet citizens who were ethnic Russians found themselves outside Russia's border and no one gave them any thought. This is equivalent to the population of a large European country. They found themselves suddenly in the position of being foreigners without ever having been asked about what they themselves wanted.
     And how did the Soviet collapse actually take place? In any democratic country, in Belgium at the moment, for example, complex processes can take place. But in countries where these processes are taking place, before making a decision, the public is asked, "do you want to live separately from this country with which you currently live together, or do you want to stay together?" I am sure that if a referendum had been held, the majority of people in many of the former Soviet republics would not have said that, "yes, we want to separate from the Soviet Union". But they were never asked. Is this a democratic means of resolving problems of this kind? We do not make an issue of this today, do not talk about it, but it is nonetheless the reality of the situation.
     So, 25 million people found themselves abroad without means of existence, in a climate of rising nationalism and in a situation when they could not return to Russia, their historic homeland, and could not even see their relatives because they did not have the money to buy a plane or train ticket. They do not have apartments in Russia. They have nowhere to live and no jobs. Is this not a tragedy? This is what I meant when I spoke of the tragedy of this period.
     I had in mind not the political aspect of the Soviet Union's collapse but the humanitarian aspect. And is this not a tragedy? Of course it is a tragedy and a great tragedy too.

     QUESTION: I would like to ask you to go further and take a broader look at the picture, talk about these countries and review the situation.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Which countries?

     QUESTION: My question is two-fold. First, it is clear that the lessons that you have learned in Chechnya could be used by other countries, including the United States, in improving relations and stability. And second, how does Russia plan to work together with the CIS countries, the former Soviet republics?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: As you know, I said that I think the collapse of the Soviet Union was a tragedy, but given that this event is the reality we have to live with now, our relations with the former Soviet republics should be based on the principle of absolute equality. I think that if we keep to this approach we will be able to hope for progress in economic integration and thus ensure our competitive advantages in the global economy. This is what is uppermost in my mind.
     We have a common energy system and a common transport system. We do not have to think up rules for the use of national languages, as in the European Union, because the Russian language has naturally come to play the part of common language of communication between us all.
     There are many other elements uniting us. Some sectors of our respective economies simply cannot exist without each other. This is true for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and many of the other former Soviet republics. I think that these are the principles upon which our relations should be built.
     As for the processes taking place in these countries, I would prefer not to comment on them because this is not my affair.

     RESPONSE: You have had market disputes, disputes over prices for gas, if we come back to this...

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: What disputes? There are world gas prices. We sell gas at world prices to all our customers. Why should we sell gas at lower prices to someone? Do the Americans sell at cheaper prices? Can you walk into a shop in the USA and say, "I'm from Canada, and we Canadians are good friends of the USA, so can you sell me a Chrysler at half price?" What kind of answer would such a person get? They'd say, "Out of here, you idiot!"

     QUESTION: California can sell at a discount to Nevada. The states can do this, give each other various preferential terms. If the former Soviet republics become something like the European Union, why should they not also help each other?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think this goes against the principles of the market economy and that it is harmful to the countries that do it.
     Even within Russia we have adopted a program introducing world prices for domestic consumers. Any other approach distorts the country's economy and makes certain economic sectors dependent on others. This leads to cross-subsidising of the economy and is quite simply destructive. We are therefore making the transition to market principles within the country and also in our relations with our closest neighbours. If we help someone, we assume that we will be receiving adequate compensation in return, even if for the time being one can not see it.
     Furthermore, we realised the difficulties our partners faced and for a whole 15 years supplied energy resources to our neighbours at prices much lower than world prices, subsidising their economies to the tune of $3 billion-$5 billion a year, and that was for Ukraine alone. This situation could not last forever. The situation had already become unfair.
     You mentioned the Europeans. The Europeans criticise us, saying that we need to use world prices within the country and say that otherwise our companies will benefit from advantages over European companies. In other words, we are supposed to sell at world prices on the domestic market, but we are supposed to sell to our neighbours at a discount.
     We do not make a political issue of energy problems. Let's be frank about what is going on here. Let's not beat about the bush and avoid calling a spade a spade. I propose that we speak frankly. For some reason, there are people in the United States who think that part of the Ukrainian elite is pro-American and part is pro-Russian. And they have decided to support the part they think is pro-American, the so-called 'orange revolutionaries'.
     That's your choice, if you want to support them, support them, although we think this is not the right approach because in reality there are only different people there with different political views, and in general, if a politician wants to be popular at home, he has to protect the national interests. All of them have to be Ukrainian nationalists in the positive sense of the term. And that is what they all are: they are not pro-Russian or pro-American or pro-European; they are all pro-Ukrainian. But you have decided to divide them for some reason into pro-European, pro-Western, and pro-Russian factions. Fine, be that as it may, you have divided them this way and decide who to support. We think this is a mistake. It would be better to let them get on with resolving their domestic problems themselves. Furthermore, you supported them in action that was clearly unconstitutional in nature. After all, everything that took place there was in violation of the Constitution. And what has it led to? The result is that different political groups and groups within the population in Ukraine itself have lost trust in each other. Through this action you have begun to destroy Ukraine, undermining its territorial integrity and sovereignty. That is what the United States has accomplished in Ukraine, and the same thing is happening in Georgia.
     And what were we saying? We said to leave them alone, to let them sort things out for themselves, support them from outside but not give preference to one group or the other. This conflict will continue until the country is completely destabilised, and judging from the situation, this state of affairs will persist for quite some time yet.
     But when everyone saw that destabilisation was taking place, they tried to force Russia into subsidising the Ukrainian economy so as not to let the country fall into complete collapse and destabilisation. But if you choose to support this or that group, you should be the ones who pay for your choice. No one wants to pay. I spoke with one European economy minister and said, "well, go on, pay then", and he said, "am I an idiot or something?", and I said, "and do I look to you like an idiot?"
     So we need to look at the situation, we need to look at the reality and not think in terms of general categories. I think the situation that is unfolding is a dangerous one. Every effort needs to be made there to consolidate society and consolidate the country. It would be best, overall, if the so-called pro-Russian and pro-Western forces got together and reflected on the future of their country and built a power structure that would forge the bonds of national unity and not divide the country into western and eastern or southern groups.
     What is happening now is moving in this direction, in a destructive direction, and this is a great pity because Ukraine is a country with whom we have very close ties. Every second person in Russia probably has ties of some sort with relatives or friends in Ukraine. Of Ukraine's 45 million people, 17 million are ethnic Russians, and this is only according to official statistics. Almost 100 percent of people there consider Russian their native language, well, 80 percent perhaps. This is a country we are very close to and we sincerely want to see peace and tranquillity finally come to Ukraine and see them put in place the conditions for consistent development.

     QUESTION: In the long term, do you think that Ukraine could ever become a part of Russia once again?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: No, of course not. We do not seek this. We do not want to bring anybody into Russia because this would just be an additional economic burden for the country. But we do want to be able to make use of our natural competitive advantages in the world economy. I already named them. We could look at economic integration, but it makes no sense at all to impose some kind of new state formation when the people in neither one nor the other country want this.
     This is not even so important in the modern world. Just look at what is happening in Europe. Unification is taking place and national borders no longer play the role they used to. They are losing the significance they used to have.

     QUESTION: President Bush said that he looked into your eyes and saw into your soul. Did you see into President Bush's soul when you looked into his eyes, and what did you see there?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I don't think I have the right to give personality assessments and evaluations. When he said that he looked into my eyes, he was saying what he felt. I will therefore take your question literally and speak about my own feelings.
     I do indeed have good relations with him and this is something I value. I consider him a very reliable partner and a decent person.
     When I have had the pleasure of speaking with some American intellectuals - I will not name names - they begin to argue with me on this point. I would like to say that my term in office as President is coming to an end soon and I have no reason to make compliments just for the sake of it, all the more as I will soon be leaving this post. I do not need to make compliments for personal or for business reasons. What I say I say in all sincerity. I do not agree with those in Russia or in America who deny Bush's decency, honesty or even competence.
     We all make mistakes. I think that Iraq was a mistake, for example. But Bush is someone with a lot of experience, a lot of experience in life and in state affairs, and there is no doubt that everything he does is aimed at protecting the interests of the United States.

     RESPONSE: Could you repeat that second part, "he is someone with a lot of experience". Could you repeat that sentence, please?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think he is someone with a lot of experience in life and in state affairs. He was governor, after all, and I have an idea of what it takes to run a region. I was deputy mayor of St Petersburg, and he was the top official in the state. Only at first glance does this seem like nothing much, just a matter of looking after roofs, roads, looking after the linen, but this is not the case at all. This work involves serious matters and the decisions taken affect the lives of thousands, millions, of people. He has a lot of international experience, though, as I said, there are some areas where I think he has made mistakes, some things I would not have done. I already mentioned Iraq. But I have absolutely no doubt that he is acting in America's interests, that he devotes himself fully to this work, and that he is honest with his partners.

     QUESTION: How do you think Iraq will end for the United States?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think that if we all work together and come up with common solutions, work together to return to Iraq its sovereignty, and the sooner the better, we will be able to avoid serious consequences.

     QUESTION: Another question in this respect. You were one of the first to come to the aid of the United States after September 11. When the United States entered Afghanistan, Russia already had a lot of experience of presence in that country. Do you think that Russia and the United States missed the opportunity to cooperate more closely on combating terrorism precisely because of differences of opinion over the invasion of Iraq?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think we certainly could have worked together in more coordinated and thus more effective fashion.
     But I do think that we have achieved cooperation between our intelligence services. We cannot always make it public and show it, but I can assure you that it is effective, including for ensuring security in the direct sense of the term, the security of Russian citizens and U.S. citizens. The cooperation between our intelligence services has produced some good results and they are now able to prevent serious attacks against our citizens, something they have been doing very successfully at moments.

     RESPONSE: That is reassuring.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: This is not just banal talk. I am saying this on the basis of concrete work to prevent concrete attacks directed against Americans and against Russian citizens, attacks that have been prevented as a result of our work together.

     QUESTION: I am being perfectly sincere when I say that it is reassuring to hear this from you.
     Are there organisational structures through which the intelligence services carry out their anti-terrorist work?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Cooperation takes place through what are called partnership channels, and this has been very successful of late.

     QUESTION: What kind of cooperation are we talking about exactly?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Cooperation to prevent terrorist attacks against Russian and American citizens, as I said, including possible large-scale actions. We do not publicise the information exchanges and prevention measures taking place on both sides, but they are there.
     I spoke with President Bush on the telephone about this just recently, gave him some specific examples and had the opportunity to inform him about some of the joint work we have been carrying out.

     QUESTION: This concerned threats to the United States that it was possible to prevent through the help of the Russian intelligence services?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: It concerned threats to the United States and Russia and joint work to prevent threats to Americans and to Russians. I am stating the situation as it is and I cannot say more at the moment.

     QUESTION: Mr President, regarding Russia's relations with other countries, with China, for example, what is the current state of Russian-Chinese relations? Is there anything in what China is doing that you see as positive and that Russia could also take on board? Would you like to move in some other direction?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Russia and China are natural partners. We are neighbours and share thousands of kilometres of common border. We spent 40 years negotiating a border settlement with China. Forty years - that is a long time - but two or three years ago we resolved and signed everything. Russia and China have reached an unprecedented level of trust and cooperation in their relations today. We are very pleased with this and we see that our Chinese partners are doing all they can to maintain this level. We are receiving signals of this in practically every area. We value this highly and try to respond likewise. I hope that this will remain the case in the future.

     QUESTION: You spoke about President Bush, but you also met with President Clinton. Could you compare their styles, their intellectual capabilities, the way they responded to questions?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes of course I can make such a comparison, but do you really think I am going to do so? I have too much respect for both of these politicians to allow myself to make such comparisons and comments.
     But I do remember how I began. President Yeltsin sent me to attend the APEC summit in New Zealand. I was prime minister at the time and my political prospects were still quite unclear, I did not really know myself what lay ahead. Clinton at that time was already well-known, respected at home and abroad. He was a recognised world leader. I remember that at dinner when Clinton got up from the table, he came round this big table at which all these APEC leaders were seated, and whispered in my ear, "Volodya, I propose that you and I leave together". This came as a complete surprise to me. We both got up and our colleagues all stepped back to form a sort of corridor, and we walked along this 'corridor' together to the applause of those present.
     I will never forget this and I am very grateful to him for this. In general, despite the differences of opinion on many issues, such marks of human attention and friendly attitude towards each other, this culture of relations among state leaders, is a special kind of chemistry and it is very important.

     QUESTION: Are there any world leaders with whom you have also felt this kind of special chemistry, or any other friends? Mr Berlusconi and Mr Sarkozy have had many warm words to say about you, for example. Who could you name? What about Mrs Merkel, what language do the two of you use together?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I have very good relations with all of the people you have named, and in some cases they have developed into real friendship. Generally, Mrs Merkel and I speak to each other in German.

     QUESTION: I would like to come back to the question of God. You said in one of your answers that it is wrong to steal and that this is a principle of life in Russia. Have you read the Bible?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes. I have a copy of the Bible in my plane, and I fly a lot. I have the Bible in my plane and I also have an icon there, a special icon, embroidered, but everything is there. If I am flying a long distance - and we have a big country, and I also fly abroad regularly - I have the chance to read the Bible.

     QUESTION: How would you characterise your religious beliefs? It seems to me from your answer that you do not want to talk publicly about this in your position. But is there something you could say about this?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Yes. What I can say is that it is my firm conviction that only religion can provide the moral values without which humanity as a whole and we as individuals cannot live.
     As for specific institutions or churches, this is a separate issue. Someone said once that if God exists, he does not know that people have different views on the church.

     QUESTION: But a situation is emerging now in Russia in which the Russian Orthodox Church is becoming dominant once again. It is the only church to have signed official cooperation agreements with the Defence Ministry and the law enforcement agencies, for example.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: The issue is not the agreement but the law.

     RESPONSE: I realise this, but the law prohibits this - Russia is a secular state.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: This is not the case. The law states that Russia has four traditional religions. Our American partners have criticised us for this, but this is what our lawmakers have decided. These traditional religions are: Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

     RESPONSE: Excuse me, this is not quite what I had in mind. I did not finish my sentence. I think the law prohibits things such as a joint church service involving the General Staff and Orthodox hierarchs to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Soviet nuclear bomb. If all four confessions took part in the event it would be more comprehensible in terms of the Constitution.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: I think that if people at General Staff who are followers of Judaism, Islam or Buddhism went to their respective religious authorities and marked this important event, there would be nothing bad in this, and I would welcome it.
     Orthodoxy just happens to be the biggest of our religions. Almost 80 percent of Russia's population consider themselves as having a connection with Orthodoxy.

     QUESTION: Mr President, you know that in America, being 'green', ecologically-minded, is the new religion, and the chief hierarch is former Vice-President Al Gore. I have two questions in this respect. How do you view the 'green movement' as it is developing in Russia, and what is your policy in this area? And the second part of my question: in America and the West there is a need to use alternative energy sources so as to reduce dependence on fuels such as oil.

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Regarding the ecology movement, I very much support it and share their ideas very much.
     Protecting nature, protecting the environment in which we live is one of the priorities for all of humankind. People who devote their time and their lives to this work unquestionably deserve our support. It is also clear that we cannot stop human development. There will always be a conflict between development and environmental protection. It is important that humanity realise the dramatic nature of the events taking place and channel development in such a way as to cause minimal damage to nature, or try to find ways of excluding all such damage.
     Modern technology can help us to achieve this. It is easier to resolve these problems today than it was even 15 years ago, because in a situation of confrontation between two rival blocs such as we had back then, confrontation that threatened total mutual destruction, people were not much concerned with what happened to the environment during this competition, which was a struggle of life or death.
     But today we have left this situation behind and there is no need to destroy the environment in the way we did previously. Today we therefore have a unique political opportunity to look after what God has given all of humankind.
     Our eco-system is very vulnerable. It is amazing that the Earth still survives today. Our planet evolved through a combination of billions of circumstances and continues to exist thanks to the fact these billions of circumstances somehow interact and work together. Our planet, which is in constant movement through what is essentially the hostile environment of outer space, is faced with the constant threat of destruction. It could be hit by large cosmic bodies. We have a very thin ozone layer and our atmosphere in general is really quite thin. There is a very fine line beyond which damage becomes irreversible, and we might not even notice that we have crossed this line.
     In this respect we must always remember this and always strive to minimise the possible negative consequences for the environment. But what I do not like is that people sometimes use environmental issues as an instrument in competition, particularly in economic competition, in order to stifle competition. This undermines trust in the environmental protection organisations and their work.
     This is the negative side of the question. But overall, we must strive to come up with rules of behaviour that would protect the environment for humankind in the long term.

     QUESTION: The second part of the question: will we find a substitute for oil? And if we do, what would be the impact for Russia and the global economy?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: First of all, as I said, one of our economic priorities is to diversify our economy. We base ourselves on the premise that we should depend not on oil but on brainpower. We need to change the structure of our economy. This is not an easy task but I have no doubt that it is within our power. We are already moving in this direction and we have already achieved results. The share of machine-building and other high-technology sectors in our GDP is growing all the time compared to the share of the natural resources extraction sectors. If you look at the changing figures over the last few years you will see that this is an indisputable fact.
     Second, talking about the energy sector, Russia is taking steps, perhaps not yet sufficient steps as yet, but we are working on developing new forms of thermonuclear, nuclear and hydrogen energy. Alternative energy sources such as those obtained from cereals, for example, also offer good prospects for Russia. There are not so many countries in the world with a large amount of territory that can be used to grow these cereals: really, there are only the United States, Canada, Australia, Russia and perhaps Brazil. That is all. We are not pessimistic at all with regards to this issue. We will keep working.

     QUESTION: Thank you very much. You have been very generous with your time. Could I ask a couple of final questions, to help Americans understand you better?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: Go ahead, but only two, because it is already 10p.m.

     QUESTION: Thank you. You said that the large number of telephones on the boss's desk is an old stereotype now. How much into technology are you personally? Do you use e-mail or Blackbury, and do you have your own blog, for example?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: To my great shame, I don't use any of these things. I don't even use the telephone. My staff does it all for me. They do it all very well and I am very envious of them.

     QUESTION: But to give Americans a better idea of you as a person, what do you like and value most of all, and what do you feel some kind of passion for?

     VLADIMIR PUTIN: There is only one measure of power and that is people's trust. There is no other measure. All the rest is just an illusion of power, and a very dangerous illusion it is. Trust is the most important component of power and it is something I value immensely.
     I am very grateful to people for thinking that I really have spent these last eight years working honestly, toiling like a galley slave every day. And I see that there are also people who do not see things in this way, do not perceive it as I do, but I do not blame them for this, I blame myself for not having managed to reach out properly to these people. This means I did not work hard enough and could have done more. But overall, what I am most grateful for is people's trust.

     Thank you.