Saker Message:
  • No current Saker Message.

Speeches, Statements and Interviews

President Vladimir Putin’s letter to leaders of European countries. Full text

ITAR-TASS reports:  President Vladimir Putin’s letter to leaders of European countries. Full text Ukraine’s economy in the past several months has been plummeting. Its industrial and construction sectors have also been declining sharply. Its budget deficit is mounting. The condition of its currency system is becoming more and more deplorable. The negative trade balance is accompanied by the flight of capital from the country. Ukraine’s economy is steadfastly heading towards a

Sergei Lavrov: It’s not Russia that is destabilising Ukraine

by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for The GuardianThe west has been needlessly whipping up tension – if we don’t co-operate soon, chaos may take hold The profound and pervasive crisis in Ukraine is a matter of grave concern for Russia. We understand perfectly well the position of a country which became independent just over 20 years ago and still faces complex tasks in constructing a sovereign state. Among them

A really important interview of Andrei Kostin, President of VTB Bank

Dear friends,Today I am posting a video of what I think is an extremely important interview of Andrei Kostin, the resident and Chairman of the Management Board of powerful Russian VTB Bank (who basically speaks for Russian banking).  At a recent meeting of Russian banker Kostin made the official proposal for Russia to switch from the US Dollar to the Russian Ruble as payment currency for Russian exports.  This proposal

Statement by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the events in Ukraine

The agreement on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, which was signed on the 21 February and certified by the German, Polish and French Foreign Ministers, is still not being fulfilled. Militants have still not laid down arms, they have not freed administrative buildings, or announced their intention to “make order” in all the Ukrainian regions. There are threats of physical reprisals, as the President Viktor Yanukovych emphasised in his

Speech delivered by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah marking the anniversary of the Martyr Leaders on Sunday February 16, 2014.

I take refuge in Allah from the stoned devil. In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Peace be on the Seal of prophets, our Master and Prophet, Abi Al Qassem Mohammad and on his chaste and pure Household and on his chosen companions and on all messengers and prophets. Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. First, I salute the souls of the Martyr Leaders

City of Sevastopol officials are threatening to create their own sovereign state

According to the Regnum news agency the Sevastopol City State Administration is threatening to break-away from the Ukraine and create a “Federal State of Ruthenia/Small-Russia”.  Here is a rough and quick translation of the article: The Chairman of the Sevastopol City State Administration Volodymyr Yatsuba appealed to citizens in connection with what is happening in the country, and especially in its western regions, the correspondent of IA REGNUM reports.   Yatsuba

Foreign Minister Lavrov’s press conference today (in English)

As always, Lavrov makes a brilliant case for his point of view.  I still think that Russia made a major mistake, but I can’t help liking Lavrov a lot and finding him absolutely brilliant.  I hope that he has some kind of game-plan I am not aware of.It’s a long press conference, but at least listen to his reply to the first question as it is about Syria and his

Interview to Channel One and Associated Press news agency (very interesting interview of Vladimir Putin)

(Comment: I can only say that the contrast between the calm, pragmatic and yet principled Putin with the insecure, spineless and totally ideological Obama is amazing.  Too bad that Russia has nobody to talk to in the White House right now, as the potential for collaboration between Russia and the USA is actually rather big.  The Saker) On the eve of the G20 Summit, Vladimir Putin gave an interview to

Full text of the interview of President Assad to Izvestia

President of the Syrian Arab Republic told about threat of US invasion, about his relationship with Putin and about common fate of Russian and Syrian people. All in exclusive interview in Izvestia. Interviewer: Mr President, the most pressing question today is the current situation in Syria. What parts of the country remain under the rebels’ control?President Assad: From our perspective, it’s not a matter of labelling areas as controlled by

Evo Morales to RT: Plane-grounding debacle will never be forgotten in South America

RT reports:Bolivian President Evo Morales has threatened “measures” against European countries in response to the grounding of his plane in Vienna last week, demanding they reveal the source of false information that Edward Snowden was on board. “We are expecting European countries that forced me to land to explain what made them think I was transporting the fugitive US citizen. Where did this information come from, and why are they

Interview given by President al-Assad to Lebanese Al-Manar TV (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to al-Manar TV broadcasted on Thursday. Following is the full text of the interview: Al-Manar: In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Assalamu Alaikum. Bloodshed in Syria continues unabated. This is the only constant over which there is little disagreement between those loyal to the Syrian state and those opposed to it. However, there is no common ground over the other constants

↓