Addressing Russia’s Council of Legislators yesterday in St. Petersburg—a consultative advisory and consultative body to the chambers of the Russian Federal Assembly legislature, co-chaired by the speakers of the State Duma and Federation Council—President Vladimir Putin spoke strongly about the direction Russia should take, and the absurdity of the so-called “rules-based order.”
“Our partners, or I can already call them our former partners in some countries, are compulsively destroying legal frameworks and dialogue channels. They are trying to impose their own views and so-called rules on everyone. What are these rules about? I have said this many times. Nobody has seen them. Who compiled these rules? They are writing them somewhere under a blanket and then are doing something with them under the blanket. But we won’t crawl under their blanket and we are not going to follow their rules,” Putin said.
Despite these efforts, Putin continued, Russia’s contact with the world is growing in what he called an “indicative trend.” “I will repeat—Russia is not going to isolate itself. On the contrary, we will expand pragmatic, equitable, mutually beneficial and exclusively partner relations with friendly countries in Eurasia, Africa and Latin America,” the President said.
In an important comment about the growing revolt from the West, Putin went on: “Incidentally, many people in the United States think like us. It’s the same in Europe. Their elite behave differently, but we know that many of the elite in these countries pursue a policy in spite of the interests of their own people. They will get it back one day.”
For the Council of Legislators, Putin also urged that they not “wait out” this tense period, but rather work proactively towards the future. Their goal should be creating a “basis for the long-term, independent, and successful development of our country,” he emphasized. (http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71047 )
(The Council of Legislators is comprised of the Chairperson of the Federation Council; Chairperson of the State Duma; First Deputy or Deputy Chairperson of the Federation Council; First Deputy or Deputy Chairperson of the State Duma; Heads of legislative (representative) bodies of the Russian regions; Committee heads of the Federation Council and Committee heads of the State Duma; Secretaries of the Council of Legislators with an advisory vote. The Council is co-chaired by the chairpersons of the Federation Council and State Duma. [http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/44680/])
