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Russia, West should work together based on mutual willingness: Putin

Xinhua, January 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready to interact with NATO and within the Group of Eight (G8) provided that the other side shows the same willingness.

Putin made the statement in an interview on Jan. 5 with Germany's Bild newspaper, the second part of which was published online by the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Expressing a feeling that Russia has been treated as an outlier, he said Russia has never become a full-fledged G8 member as there were always separate negotiations among the other seven countries.

"It is not Russia that cut off cooperation with the G8 or the Russia-NATO Council. We are willing to interact with everyone...but a relationship can be happy only when the feeling is mutual," he said.

Putin emphasized Russia's presence is useful within the group of world leading industrialized nations as the country could provide an alternative view on various issues, citing the role it has played within such multilateral frameworks as the G20, APEC, and BRICS.

Asked about the strained relations with Turkey, which is a NATO member, the Russian leader said he hoped incidents like the downing of Russian fighter jet by Ankara would not cause large-scale hostilities, while warning that Russia would defend its security interests by all available means, should such threats against Russia arise.

Meanwhile, Putin dismissed as lies Western media reports that Russian armed forces in Syria are fighting the anti-Damascus rebels, rather than the Islamic State terrorist group, while slamming their coyness over attacks by U.S. pilots on Doctors Without Hospital Borders hospital in Afghanistan.

As to the future of the war-torn Syria, Putin called for a constitutional reform in the country, as well as early presidential and parliamentary elections based on the new Constitution.

"It is the Syrian people themselves who must decide who should and how to run their country. This is the only way to achieve stability and security," he noted. Endi