PUTIN: We have the 201st Division there. And if we pull it out, we will face tragic events there within a month. We are very well aware of this. Do our partners in the West understand this? Well, Tajikistan is just one area. And there is also Uzbekistan and Kirghizia, whose territory was invaded by large bands last year and these bands seized large areas in the mountains. And there are other danger points, in terms of aggressive designs of some extremist forces. And these extremist forces are obviously trying to make this territory their haven. In this context, Chechnya is just one element of the overall struggle for the recarving of the world.
It is not accidental that the people who have taken control of the Chechen territory are not content with the struggle for the independence of Chechnya and went further. They crossed the borders of Chechnya with the aim of separating more territory from Russia to create a state from the Black to the Caspian Sea.
Apparently, there is the impression that this region of the former Soviet Union is so weak that it can become easy prey. But judging from what happened in Kirghizia, for example, they have grounds for thinking so. They went in and nobody stopped them. They seized a large area and took hostages, including foreign ones, they were Japanese if you remember.
And there is yet another danger. We all speak about a possible disintegration of Russia. If these extremist forces manage to gain a bridgehead in the Caucasus, not only in Chechnya, but also to tear away other territories. That contagion may go up the Volga and spread to other republics. And then we would face either total Yugoslavization of Russia or one would have to agree that this territory will be divided up into several independent states.
Did anyone give thought to the political and geopolitical consequences of such development in the world. And when I talked with my partners I told many of them that we were not only disappointed with the Western position, we think that it is in the national interests of the overwhelming majority of Western countries to give direct political and economic support to Russia in its struggle against international extremism.
Q: Are there any countries, perhaps not great powers, but our neighbors, which are thinking along these lines and with which we have a meeting of minds -- other than Byelorussia?
A: I think that especially after the events of summer of last year the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union and the Transcaucasian republics have been giving thought to it. Why don't we ever say -- that is, they just mentioned it in the press in passing and that was all. But the Western countries now actively support Georgia, and that is a good thing. Georgia is a friendly state. But it was on the territory of Chechnya that terrorists were trained who made an attempt on Shevardnadze's life. And the Georgia side is aware of this. The Federal Security Service caught these people and has already extradited some of them to the Georgian security service. This is a proven fact. These terrorists were trained on the territory of Chechnya.
In the same way terrorists were trained in Chechnya who tried to assassinate President Karimov of Uzbekistan. In other words, an enclave of bandits was created in Chechnya where terrorists were trained to stage assassination attempts on the leaders of other states. It obviously went beyond the territory of the Chechen Republic itself. But people try not to recall this. Why?
Q: One gets the impression that Russia constantly presents to the International Monetary Fund some kind of documents and reports to prove that we have fulfilled and overfulfilled agreed programs, but we are not given any credits, we are treated badly. We say that the IMF --
A: Those who treat us badly won't stay alive for three days. Let's leave aside the question of treating us badly.
NOTE : The IMF is controlled by the USA.
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