Putin happy with PM job

Vladimir Putin is happy with his new job as Prime Minister of Russia. “There is enough to do, but the work is interesting and I think it is also very useful,” he told reporters in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on Tuesday.

In his new capacity, Putin added, he had to go into the details for which he had not had time before. Now he has to go into the details of issues facing the government as the wellbeing of the country and millions of its citizens over the next 10-15 years hinged on the decisions made by the government. “This is a very interesting job, and I am happy with it,” Putin stressed.

Speaking about the recognition of Georgia’s breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, he said it would not be critical for Russia if other nations did not recognize the two republics’ independence. Far more important is that Russia’s actions in these republics will now be fully legitimized.

“We will be treating them as independent countries, and we will do so openly,” the Prime Minister underlined. Other countries will themselves decide whether to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. “They should themselves build their foreign policy. But you know, constant dripping wears away the stone,” he said.

Commenting on the results of the EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Putin said Russia was not satisfied with the final document as it failed to condemn Georgia’s aggression in South Ossetia. Many strong-worded statements, some of them “extremist in nature”, had been proposed in the course of the debate, according to Putin. “Thank God, common sense has prevailed, and no such extreme conclusions and proposals have been included into the final document,” he said.

At the same time, Putin expressed surprise at some passages of the EU summit statement. For example, Russia was accused of taking “inadequate and disproportionate measures” in response to Georgia’s actions. “Clearly, this means Georgia’s aggression but it is unclear why this aggression is not even mentioned in the text,” he wondered. Also, the document does not offer condolences to the conflict victims in South Ossetia.

At the same time, Putin said he agreed with the assessment of Georgia’s political system expressed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who described the republic’s political system as “Saakashvili’s regime.” “I agree with Mr. Sarkozy. This means that Georgia is not a democratic country but it is under the personal rule of Saakashvili, and the nature of this regime has to be carefully examined,” Putin said. “I think there are no democratic principles in it, and there can be none,” he remarked.

RBC