Putin Demands Respect for Russia’s Interests

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the West must respect Russia’s interests if it wants to normalize diplomatic relations.

Putin said Thursday during a televised call-in show that the United States “doesn’t need allies, they only need vassals.” He said Russia would never accept that role and urged the West to take Russian interests into account.

Russia-West ties have plummeted to post-Cold War lows amid the Ukrainian crisis. The U.S. and the European Union have slapped Russia with sanctions over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and support for insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

Putin said that “it’s useless and senseless to put pressure on Russia using those means.”

He said Russia remains ready to normalize ties with the West, and doesn’t consider any nation its enemy.

Source: Associated Press AP