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Tomorrow and meets with president obama at a time when he has placed himself and his country in the middle of the most pressing issues of our times. He helped the u. S. And its western allies broker the nuclear deal with iran, and now, with a russian buildup of aircraft, military equipment and personnel in syria, he has put himself and his country at the center of that civil war and the fight against isis. Now, when his relations with the United States seem to be at a postcold war low, suffering under western economic sanctions imposed on russia, putin may be looking for a way to restore his international influence and gain the respect he seeks for his homeland. Just before his trip to the u. S. , putin invited us to meet him at his state residence outside moscow, where we found him characteristically confident and combative as he made the case that the focus in syria should be on fighting isis rather than removing syrian president assad. So, you would like to join the United States in the fight against isis . Thats part of why youre there. Others think that while that may be part of your goal, youre trying to save the Assad Administration because theyve been losing ground, and the war has not been going well for them. And youre there to rescue them. Vladimir putin translated well, youre right. We support the legitimate government of syria, and its my deep belief that any actions to the contrary in order to destroy the legitimate government will create a situation which you can witness now in the other countries of the region or in other regions. For instance, in libya, where all the state institutions are disintegrated. We see a similar situation in iraq. And there is no other solution to the Syrian Crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism but, at the same time, urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform. Rose as you know, some of the Coalition Partners want to see president assad go first before they will support. Putin id like to recommend to them the following they should send this message to the Syrian People. Its only the Syrian People who are entitled to decide who should govern their country and how. Rose president assad, you support him. Do you support what he is doing in syria and what is happening to those Syrian People, those many millions of refugees and the hundreds of thousands of people that have been killed, many by his own force . Putin well, tell me, what do you think about those who support the opposition and mainly the terrorist organizations only in order to oust assad without thinking about what will happen to the country after all the government institutions have been demolished . Today, you have repeatedly said that assad is fighting against his own population, but look at those who are in control of 60 of the territory in syria. Its controlled by either isis or by others. Rose alnusra . Putin . Such as al nusra and other terrorist organizations. They are recognized as terrorist organizations by the United States, by other states and by the united nations. Rose are you prepared to put russian combat troops on the ground in syria if its necessary to defeat isis . Putin russia will not participate in any troop operations in the territory of syria or in any other states. Well, at least we dont plan on it right now. But we are considering intensifying our work with both president assad and with our partners in other countries. Rose i come back to the problem that many people look at, and they believe that assad helps isis; that his reprehensible conduct against the Syrian People using barrel bombs and worse is a recruiting tool for isis and that if he was removed, transitioned at some point, it would be better in the fight against isis, alnusra and others. Putin well, speaking in a professional language of intelligence services, i can tell you that this kind of assessment is an active measure by enemies of assad. It is antisyrian propaganda. Rose much is being read into this, including this that this is a new effort for russia to take a leadership role in the middle east, and that it represents a new strategy by you. Is it . Putin not really, no. More than 2,000 fighters from russia and exsoviet republics are in the territory of syria. There is a threat of their return to us. So, instead of waiting for their return, we are better off helping assad fight them on syrian territory. So, this is the most important thing which encourages us and pushes us to provide assistance to assad, and in general we want the situation in the region to stabilize. Rose but your pride in russia means that you would like to see russia play a bigger role in the world, and this is just one example. Putin well, its not the goal in itself. Im proud of russia, thats true, and we have something to be proud of, but we do not have any obsession with being a superpower in the international arena. Rose but you are in part a major power because of the Nuclear Weapons you have. You are a force to be reckoned with. Putin laughs i hope so. I definitely hope so. Otherwise, why do we have Nuclear Weapons at all . Rose recent tension between the United States and russia began after ukraines president yanukovych was overthrown and fled to russia. Putin responded by annexing crimea, leading the u. S. And western allies to impose tough economic sanctions against russia. Putin ukraine is a separate and major issue for us. It is our closest neighbor. Weve always said that this is our sister country. Its not only a slavic people; we have common history, common culture, common religion, and many things in common. What i believe is absolutely unacceptable is the resolution of internal political issues in the former u. S. S. R. Republics through color revolutions, through coup detats, through unconstitutional removal of power. That is totally unacceptable. Our partners in the United States have supported those who ousted yanukovych. Rose you believe that the United States had something to do with the ousting of yanukovych, and he had to flee to russia. Putin i know that for sure. Rose how do you know that for sure . Putin i know those people who live in ukraine. We have thousands of contacts with them. We know who and where, when, who exactly met with someone and worked with those who ousted yanukovych, how they were supported, how much they were paid, how they were trained, where, in which countries, and who those instructors were. We know everything. Rose for the record, the u. S. Government has denied any involvement in the removal of the ukrainian leader. You respect the sovereignty of ukraine . Putin sure, but we want countries to respect the sovereignty of other countries, and ukraine in particular. Respect for sovereignty means to not allow unconstitutional action and coup detats, the removal of legitimate power. Rose how will the renewal of legitimate power take place, in your judgment . How will that come about . And what role will russia play . Putin russia has not taken part and is not going to take part in any actions aimed at removing the legitimate government. Rose you have a military presence on the border of ukraine, and some even argue that there have been Russian Troops in ukraine. Putin well, do you have a military presence in europe . Rose yes. Putin american tactical Nuclear Weapons are in europe. Lets not forget that. What does this mean . Does it mean that youve occupied germany, or that youve transformed the Occupation Forces into n. A. T. O. Forces . Putin and if we have our military forces on our territory, on the border with some state, you believe this is a crime . Rose what Vladimir Putin thinks about america and about president obama might surprise you. 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President ial candidates have portrayed him as a bully, a gangster, or a pragmatic opponent who can be bargained with. One thing we found a strong personality who will engage in a conversation with blunt talk, charm and wit. Youre much talked about in america. Theres much conversation, more so than any. Putin translated maybe they have nothing else to do in america but to talk about me. Rose no, no, or maybe theyre curious people. laughter or maybe youre an interesting character. Maybe thats what it is. They know of a former k. G. B. Agent who came back and got into politics in st. Petersburg, and became deputy mayor and then came to moscow. And the interesting thing is, they see these images of you barechested on a horse, and they say, there is a man who carefully cultivates his image of strength. Putin you know, im convinced that a person in my position must provide a positive example to people. And those areas where he can do this, he must do this. Rose you enjoy the work, you enjoy representing russia and, you know. Youve been an intelligence officer. Intelligence officers know how to read other people. Thats part of the job, yes . Yes . Putin it used to be. Used to be. Now, i have a different job, and thats been for quite a long time. laughter rose somebody in russia told me there is no such thing as a former k. G. B. Man. Once a k. G. B. Man, always a k. G. B. Man. Putin well, you know, anything that we do, all this knowledge we acquire, all the experience, well have it forever, and well keep that. And well use it somehow. So, in this sense, yes, theyre right. Rose a c. I. A. Operative once said to me that one of the training you have is, you learn the capacity to be liked as well because you have to charm people. You. You have to charm people, you have to. Yes, seduce them. Let me. Putin well, if the c. I. A. Told you, then thats the way it is because they are an expert on that. laughter rose you have a popularity rating in russia that would make every politician in the world envious. Why are you so popular . Putin there is something that i have in common with every citizen of russia, the love for our motherland. Rose many of us were moved by an emotional moment at the time of the world war ii memorial because of the sacrifices russia had made. And you. You were seen with a picture of your father, with tears in your eyes. Putin my family suffered very major losses during the second world war, thats true. In my fathers family, there were five brothers. I think four of them died. On my mothers side, the picture was pretty much the same. Russia has suffered great losses, and, of course, we cant forget that and we must not forget that. Not to put blame on somebody, but to prevent anything like this from happening in the future. Rose you also have said that the worst thing to happen in the last century was the collapse of the soviet empire. There are those who look at ukraine especially ukraine and georgia and they believe that you do not want to recreate the soviet empire, but you do want to recreate a sphere of influence which you think russia deserves because of the relationship that has existed. Putin laughs rose why are you smiling . laughter why . Putin youre making me happy because were always suspected of some ambitions, and they always try to distort something or hint at something. I indeed said that i believe that the collapse of the u. S. S. R. Was a huge tragedy of the 20th century. You know why . Rose why . Putin because, first of all, in an instant, 25 million russian people found themselves beyond the borders of the russian state, although they were living within the borders of the soviet union. Then, all of a sudden, the u. S. S. R. Collapsed just overnight, in fact. And its turned out that in the former soviet republics, 25 million russian people were living. They were living in a single country, and all of a sudden, they turned out to be outside the borders of the country. You see, this is a huge problem. First of all, there were everyday problems the separation of families, social problems, economic problems. You cant list them all. Do you think its normal that 25 million russian people were abroad all of a sudden . Russia was the biggest divided nation in the world. Its not a problem . Well, maybe not for you, but its a problem for me. Rose there are many people who are critical of russia, as you know. They say that its more autocratic and less democratic. They say that political opponents and journalists have been killed and imprisoned in russia. They say your power is unchallenged. And they say that power and absolute power corrupts absolutely. What do you say to those people who worry about the climate, the atmosphere in russia . Putin well, there can be no democracy whatsoever without compliance with the law. Everyone must observe the laws. This is the most important thing which we must bear in mind. As for these tragic events such as the death of people, including journalists, unfortunately, they do occur in all countries of the world. But if they happen in our country, we do the utmost to find the criminals and to punish them. But the most important thing is that we will continue to improve our political system so that every citizen can feel that they do influence the life of the city, of the country, and of the society, and so that the authorities will feel responsible with regard those people who trust them during the election campaigns. Rose if you, as a leader of this country, in