:00:04. > :00:14.16 murders. That is a summary of the headlines. Now it is time for
:00:14. > :00:17.
:00:17. > :00:26.HARDtalk. Vladimir Putin, Russia's 21st century tsar is poised to
:00:26. > :00:29.return to the Kremlin and dominate Russian But what kind of motherland
:00:29. > :00:31.does he want to build? At home, Putinism is being challenged as
:00:31. > :00:38.never before by an urban protest movement. On the international
:00:38. > :00:42.stage, Russia stands accused of siding with the enemies of freedom.
:00:42. > :00:52.I will be talking to long time Putin aide and spokesman Dmitri
:00:52. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:27.Peskov. Is Russia willing or able A one to start with an issue
:01:27. > :01:31.pressing upon everybody in the international community, Syria. You
:01:31. > :01:36.understand the power of the image. It does not look good for Russia to
:01:36. > :01:41.be the main arms supplier of Syria when you see the security forces
:01:41. > :01:49.turning their guns on their own civilian populations? You are
:01:49. > :01:53.asking a question I cannot answer. Vladimir Putin is still president
:01:53. > :01:59.of the Russian Federation and I am a spokesman for him. We are not
:01:59. > :02:06.involved in foreign politics. This is a privilege for our President. I
:02:06. > :02:13.can assure you that Russia is doing nothing that can be treated as a
:02:13. > :02:16.violation of international law. It should not bother at in the
:02:16. > :02:20.international community when the country is standing on its own in
:02:20. > :02:25.its own domestic interests. This is the Premier goal of every country.
:02:25. > :02:29.I understand your point about being the but spokesman for the Prime
:02:30. > :02:35.Minister. But during the last couple of months, we have seen
:02:35. > :02:44.Vladimir Putin speak out on a range of international issues, including
:02:44. > :02:50.Syria and Iran. If I may just pursue that point. That was during
:02:50. > :02:53.the campaign, during his capacity as a candidate. But everybody knows
:02:53. > :02:58.around the world that he is going to be the Russian president. We
:02:58. > :03:03.want to understand what he thinks is going on in Syria. When it comes
:03:03. > :03:07.to the weapons, are you suggesting that when he is back in the Kremlin,
:03:08. > :03:13.he will continue what has been a massive increase in Russian arms
:03:13. > :03:22.suppliers to Syria that we have seen over the last few years? First
:03:22. > :03:31.of all, with the coming of a new president at, the Russian policy
:03:31. > :03:36.will continue in its basics. Because Russia is a serious state.
:03:36. > :03:41.It cannot change its foreign politics once in ten years or five
:03:41. > :03:49.years. That is why the basics of Russian foreign policy will
:03:49. > :03:53.continue. It will continue after Pruden becomes President. He told
:03:53. > :03:59.the Times yesterday that there was not a special relationship between
:03:59. > :04:02.the Russian government and the Syrian president. How would you
:04:02. > :04:09.characterise the relationship between the Russian government and
:04:09. > :04:14.the Assad regime? The regime is a legitimate regime. He is a
:04:14. > :04:21.legitimate president of a country. He is legitimate President of Syria
:04:21. > :04:27.and his take and hear of his citizens. Discussing any acts of
:04:27. > :04:33.terror, let us say from one side, we have to treat the situation in
:04:33. > :04:40.balance. We need to tackle both sides. We should not forget that he
:04:40. > :04:47.is taking tea of his citizens and he is responsible for law and order
:04:47. > :04:52.in Syria. Certainly, we have known reason not to believe he is taking
:04:52. > :04:56.measures in order to make sure the law is in order. He how many Syrian
:04:56. > :05:00.civilians would have to die at the hands of Syrian security forces
:05:00. > :05:10.before you would no longer describe them as the legitimate leader of
:05:10. > :05:12.
:05:12. > :05:15.Syria? I cannot really discuss this issue. At the same time, we have to
:05:15. > :05:23.remember, victims of those terrorists who are acting in
:05:23. > :05:29.certain cities of Syria. You should treat situations from both angles.
:05:29. > :05:31.A but you are more aware than I am, that by the time the has any
:05:31. > :05:37.significance Zairean rebel resistance, the UN had declared
:05:37. > :05:43.that more than 2,700 Syrians had been killed. They had been killed
:05:43. > :05:51.by the security forces loyal to the President. I know you know that. It
:05:51. > :05:55.is not a conflict with two equal sides. I have to repeat, I wish I
:05:55. > :06:02.could have time and possibilities for watching the situation more
:06:02. > :06:08.closely. Being a spokesman for the Prime Minister, we have to be more
:06:08. > :06:14.close to tears -- domestic and economic issues. Specially while we
:06:14. > :06:18.are living in turbulent economic environment. You have many
:06:19. > :06:23.responsibilities. One of them is to nurture Russia's image on the
:06:23. > :06:29.international stage. We have seen much exercise its security Council
:06:29. > :06:34.veto twice now when it comes to resolutions regarding Syria. That
:06:34. > :06:42.led the US ambassador to describe Russia's actions alongside China as
:06:42. > :06:51.disgusting and shameful. There is a real problem, and relations with
:06:51. > :06:56.the international community and the West over Syria? We sincerely hope
:06:56. > :07:02.that the international community, we cannot speak about the
:07:02. > :07:08.international community as a whole. Some Western countries treat Our
:07:08. > :07:13.position with understanding. We cannot tolerate the statements
:07:13. > :07:19.assessing our position as you have mentioned about. We totally
:07:19. > :07:25.disagree with this assessment. Nevertheless, I have no doubt the
:07:25. > :07:30.Russian Federation will continue to stand on its own national interests.
:07:30. > :07:35.Let me ask you a more principled question, this relates not just to
:07:35. > :07:41.your time representing Mr Putin as Prime Minister, but going back to
:07:41. > :07:47.association with him when he was President as well. Because I
:07:47. > :07:51.remember well and you do that in 2005, the UN General Assembly
:07:51. > :07:56.adopted this principle of responsibility to protect, the idea
:07:56. > :08:00.that no nation could stand on its sovereignty and use that as a
:08:00. > :08:03.justification for crimes against humanity, and war crimes within its
:08:03. > :08:08.own borders and expect the rest of the international community to
:08:08. > :08:18.stand by and watch it happen. Russia did back that notion. His
:08:18. > :08:21.Russia decided that was a mistake? What kind of mistake? A mistake to
:08:21. > :08:26.adopt the responsibility to protect. If you are serious about this, you
:08:26. > :08:35.should apply that principle now in Syria and other nations around the
:08:35. > :08:39.world. We have to differ the sovereignty of the country with any
:08:39. > :08:45.possible crimes against humanity. We have to understand who is in
:08:45. > :08:54.charge to take a decision. What is a crime against humanity and what
:08:54. > :09:00.is not. What could be treated as evidence of that crime. Whether we
:09:00. > :09:09.are objective enough in our attitude has to put on both sides
:09:09. > :09:16.of the issue, every crime that hypothetically could have taken
:09:16. > :09:22.place in a country. A systematically, it is a complement
:09:22. > :09:26.-- complicated question. There is no need to simplify it. It only
:09:26. > :09:30.seems a simple to people on the ground in Syria. The defector from
:09:30. > :09:37.the Syrian armed forces who told a BBC reporter that he had received
:09:37. > :09:41.orders to shoot at everything that moved, as civilian or military.
:09:42. > :09:47.That is evidence, is it not of a government which is ignoring basic
:09:47. > :09:54.international Maugham's? At the same time, we have evidence about
:09:54. > :10:01.militant groups, groups of terrorists acting in cities of
:10:01. > :10:07.Syria, we all witnessed a couple of days ago, terrible acts of terror
:10:07. > :10:11.in the Syrian capital. That is not the point of my question. Whether
:10:11. > :10:15.or not militant groups are also violating international law and
:10:15. > :10:24.norms is not here all the winner comes to judging the Syrian
:10:24. > :10:34.government. The government led by President Assad. If that was the
:10:34. > :10:34.
:10:34. > :10:40.point of my answer. I wanted to answer that way. What I want to say
:10:40. > :10:44.is, international community is tackling this issue very closely.
:10:44. > :10:47.Russia is a responsible part of international community. We will
:10:47. > :10:56.stay together with the international community in solving
:10:56. > :11:01.these problems. And all the international music -- mission will
:11:01. > :11:07.have a positive result in solving this problem. Russia is ready to do
:11:07. > :11:12.its utmost to assist with that. Russia is not ready to betray its
:11:12. > :11:20.own interests and to betray interests of international law.
:11:20. > :11:24.Russia would never be ready to agree that a group of countries can
:11:24. > :11:32.do judgments, international judgments instead of international
:11:32. > :11:38.community. This is what Russia would strongly disagree. We can now
:11:38. > :11:44.look at Syria in isolation. It is one part of a series of turbulent
:11:44. > :11:49.times across the Middle East. Some call it the Arab Spring. We saw in
:11:49. > :11:56.Libya, last year, a Russian government which was opposed to
:11:56. > :12:00.NATO military intervention. This was based on UN security Council
:12:00. > :12:07.resolution from 1973. Your boss called it a medieval crusades
:12:07. > :12:14.clause. Is it the case that as a result of what happened with the
:12:14. > :12:19.intervention in Libya, Russia does now suspect any UN security Council
:12:19. > :12:25.move across the world, especially in the Middle East that appears to
:12:25. > :12:35.the Russians to authorise any sort of intervention. I used suspicious
:12:35. > :12:43.of that? Russia would like to avoid situations where a wording of
:12:43. > :12:51.resolution is not sharp enough to avoid misusing of this resolution.
:12:52. > :12:55.If you agree with me, this is quite an unaffordable statement in terms
:12:55. > :13:01.of foreign policy for a press secretary of the Russian Prime
:13:01. > :13:06.Minister. It is not for me to agree or disagree with your words. I am
:13:06. > :13:12.trying to get inside the mindset of the Russian government and Vladimir
:13:12. > :13:18.Putin, your boss. In late February, he wrote, the West has Shayan too
:13:18. > :13:22.much willingness to punish certain countries. He seems to be
:13:22. > :13:26.characterising what is happening and the calls for intervention in
:13:26. > :13:33.various countries as part of a Western plot to expand its power
:13:33. > :13:41.and influence. We all have international law and we are all
:13:41. > :13:48.members of the international law system. We have the United Nations
:13:48. > :13:56.and the United Nations security Council. Humankind has never
:13:57. > :14:03.invented something more responsible for international stability and
:14:03. > :14:13.international security. We all have to stick to certain rules.
:14:13. > :14:18.Definitely, we all have to avoid situations that a couple of
:14:18. > :14:25.countries or a group of countries takes responsibility for ensuring
:14:26. > :14:31.security instead of international law. There leaves me confused,
:14:31. > :14:40.moving away from Syria to Iran as to what the Russian position really
:14:40. > :14:45.is. This again goes back to the time when the Vladimir Putin was
:14:45. > :14:50.presidents, in the sense that back in 2006, Russia decided to support
:14:50. > :14:58.the limited sanctions against Iran for its pursuit of nuclear
:14:58. > :15:04.ambitions. Russia supported three rounds of nuclear sanctions from
:15:04. > :15:09.then. At the same time, Vladimir Putin said on no account would he
:15:09. > :15:15.support military invention to thwart Iran acquiring a nuclear
:15:15. > :15:25.bomb. I am confused about what Russia really wants to happen in
:15:25. > :15:25.
:15:25. > :15:32.Russia wants to see Iran being in close co-operation with
:15:32. > :15:41.international bodies, including IAEA, in monitoring Iran's nuclear
:15:41. > :15:47.programme. That we do not have any doubt about right now, that this
:15:47. > :15:51.programme is a peaceful nature. are supporting the UN sanctions
:15:51. > :15:56.against Iran, so you have problems with the way they are handling, but
:15:56. > :15:59.at the same time, you say it even if all they were to acquire a bomb,
:15:59. > :16:09.we will never countenance any military based intervention to stop
:16:09. > :16:10.
:16:10. > :16:19.them. We are living in the same region as Iran, the Russian
:16:19. > :16:29.Federation. We would want to see a stable, peaceful state. We would
:16:29. > :16:29.
:16:29. > :16:33.never want to see a region torn apart by war. This is our main goal.
:16:33. > :16:43.We will use any diplomatic and political means at hand it to solve
:16:43. > :16:44.
:16:44. > :16:48.the problem, and not put muscle at every occasion. That is something
:16:48. > :16:54.you have accused the Americans and Western allies of doing, inside
:16:54. > :16:59.your own country as well. We can turn to domestic politics in Russia.
:16:59. > :17:04.When Vladimir Putin accused demonstrators in the period after
:17:04. > :17:08.the elections in December, when he accused them of essentially being
:17:08. > :17:16.in the pay of the West, the word, unacceptable when foreign money is
:17:16. > :17:26.being pumped into our election process, what evidence did he have?
:17:26. > :17:29.
:17:30. > :17:34.All reliable and necessary evidence. What? What is the evidence? Again,
:17:34. > :17:38.we must defend our sovereignty from interference from abroad. What
:17:38. > :17:46.precise facts can you bring to me that showed that the United States
:17:46. > :17:51.was leading an effort to interfere with your sovereignty? The United
:17:51. > :17:55.States was never hide in the process of financing some public
:17:55. > :18:00.organisations involved in domestic politics. I think you would rather
:18:00. > :18:04.agree with me that the situation is totally impossible, somewhere in
:18:04. > :18:09.England, or in the United States, that for example, Russia is
:18:09. > :18:14.supporting financially some organisations involved in the
:18:14. > :18:18.medically it -- domestic political processes. It is out a possibility.
:18:18. > :18:25.But Washington never hides and this fact and they are doing it
:18:25. > :18:32.officially. So it is not a secret. The way you characterise the NGOs,
:18:32. > :18:37.the ones that work in Russia, helping to ex-spouse of the values
:18:37. > :18:44.of democracy without any kind of part to San involvement, I wonder
:18:44. > :18:49.why you are so fearful of these groups. -- partisan involvement.
:18:49. > :18:56.are not so fearful. When Putin said those words, as mentioned, he never
:18:56. > :19:06.meant that all of the people who took part in actions of protest,
:19:06. > :19:06.
:19:06. > :19:11.that they are being financed. He meant that the Russian NGOs, and
:19:11. > :19:17.those that are sponsored from abroad, in order to dribble it --
:19:17. > :19:26.trigger this situation, to provoke the arm rest, his main purpose was
:19:26. > :19:35.to warn people against being a toy, an instrument in the hands of those
:19:36. > :19:41.NGOs and personalities. At the end, all the people are our citizens.
:19:41. > :19:45.You do tend to lock them up if they protest too loudly, even after Mr
:19:45. > :19:50.Putin's resounding victory in the presidential election. You are
:19:50. > :19:57.still locking people up for quiet, addressing a crowd without
:19:57. > :20:02.permission, that would apply to a person, they have -- you have again
:20:02. > :20:09.proved against other protesters, they are facing new charges. Why
:20:09. > :20:18.are you so frightened of people who criticised Putin and Russia's
:20:18. > :20:23.current political system? We are not. You produced a classic example
:20:23. > :20:26.of misunderstanding. I would rather say that in this case, you are a
:20:26. > :20:32.victim of propaganda of those people, all the people that you
:20:32. > :20:38.have mentioned right now. Actually no-one is afraid of them. Why are
:20:38. > :20:44.you locking them up? Because they violated the law. There is a law in
:20:44. > :20:50.this country. By addressing a crowd. If you violate the law, if you
:20:50. > :20:53.gather the crowd, and you start to address the crowd, in a way that
:20:53. > :21:00.contradicts the laws and regulations, you have to do your
:21:00. > :21:04.time. It is very simple. Do you think that Mr Putin's third
:21:04. > :21:09.presidential term, he has to address something of an image
:21:09. > :21:14.problem. The courts are so quick to stamp out dissidents. But we had
:21:14. > :21:19.others, senior officials are suspected of involvement in the
:21:19. > :21:25.death in custody of a lorry a who walked the streets of Moscow
:21:25. > :21:31.entirely free. The courts do not seem very keen to tackle them. It
:21:31. > :21:40.is being tackled. By the way, he enjoyed the freedom of expressing
:21:40. > :21:45.his views during legal activities, dream legal actions of protest. No-
:21:45. > :21:53.one made any obstacles. No-one took him into custody. He was free to do
:21:53. > :21:58.that and he enjoyed it 100%. I hope he would recall that. I think he
:21:58. > :22:04.has seen the back of a prison van more than once and here you know it.
:22:04. > :22:08.That meant that he ten to violate the law more than once. Back to my
:22:08. > :22:11.other point, the courts are so eager to use the full force of the
:22:11. > :22:17.law against people like him, the endemic corruption that so many
:22:17. > :22:22.Russians, and I think he would acknowledge this, so many different
:22:22. > :22:32.Russians, NGOs, international aloes, talk about, it is not being tackled
:22:32. > :22:33.
:22:33. > :22:37.at door. -- analysts. It is a serious problem and we all have to
:22:37. > :22:41.fight this corruption. We have to fight it systematically. And the
:22:41. > :22:49.attention of the President, the Prime Minister, that is being
:22:49. > :22:54.devoted to this problem, it proves that we are determined to fight it.
:22:54. > :23:02.Four years ago, when he got the presidency, he said he was going to
:23:02. > :23:06.be worthless in his determination to stamp it out. He has. But they
:23:06. > :23:15.rate you alongside Nigeria as the 143rd worst, most corrupt country
:23:15. > :23:22.in the world. I am not sure that the criteria that are they used for
:23:22. > :23:27.making these tables, it is not good, it is not proper. I'm not sure
:23:27. > :23:33.whether this criteria as credible or not. I want a couple of brief
:23:33. > :23:36.thoughts. I mention Dmitry Medvedev. He is supposed to take over as
:23:36. > :23:42.prime minister when Putin takes over as President. Will that indeed
:23:42. > :23:48.happen? I can only recall the recent words of Prime Minister
:23:48. > :23:53.Vladimir Putin, who had acknowledged his intention to
:23:53. > :23:58.nominate, after he becomes the President, to nominate Dmitry
:23:58. > :24:02.Medvedev for the prime ministership. So we can assume that will happen.
:24:02. > :24:08.He has six years, back in the presidency. Would you accept that
:24:08. > :24:12.he looks more vulnerable now than he did the last time that he won
:24:12. > :24:22.election to the presidency? The aura of invincibility is gone,
:24:22. > :24:24.
:24:24. > :24:30.would you accept that? I would rather no. He has got about 64%, it
:24:30. > :24:36.is more than a confidence four-wood for a politician in our time. --