Interfax: Russia disagrees with role of passive listener in relations with U.S. – Putin

ST. PETERSBURG. May 25 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will not agree to an abstract role in cooperation with the United States when Moscow is allowed “to simply sit alongside” and that mutual interests should be taken into account.

“Instruments are good only when they are really applied. If we have set up some venues for joint work, these sites are not for us to sit together and drink tea or coffee. These are venues for seeing some solutions and compromises,” he said at a meeting in St. Petersburg with the heads of global news agencies on Saturday.

“If the bonus for Russia boils down to being allowed to sit nearby and listen to what others are saying, this is not the role which Russia can agree to,” Putin added.

He said Russia always takes the interests of partners into account but there are certain lines that “are not to be crossed.” “This is the very line regarding Ukraine and Crimea,” Putin said.