Putin: ‘Russia will be a sovereign state or cease to exist’ ― RT Russian politics
“I said this in in my address yesterday, and I am deeply convinced that either Russia will remain and will be a sovereign state or there will be no Russia at all,” Putin said during a meeting Friday with his ombudsmen for human rights, children’s affairs and entrepreneurs’ rights.
He added that the issue of independence was more important for Russia than it was for smaller nations that have no roots of the own statehood and can easily change their allegiances in global politics. “For Russia this is impossible. If we stop being sovereign we would simply dissolve – either quietly or with some tragedies in the process. Both variants are inadmissible,” the Russian president said.