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From the country with limited hope to grow your own business and express your own personality, Russia has become the land of significant opportunity.

I would be delighted if the United States could have a positive relationship with Russia, and I would be thrilled if the Russian people, who are so capable, had a normal country that they could chart a different future.

I think the soft underbelly of Russia is - what's driving their ability to be aggressive is their energy. If you take the energy out of their economy, Russia is not so strong.

I think very poorly of United Russia. United Russia is the party of corruption, the party of crooks and thieves. And it is the duty of every patriot and citizen of our country to make sure that this party is destroyed.

Russia is tough. The history, the land, the people - brutal.

I think that most people believe that Russia, because of its - it has regained some of its military strength. And they do rattle the saber a bit. It wants to be a player.

The great drama of Russian history has been between its state and society. Put simply, Russia has always had too much state and not enough society.

Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.

I have never stated Russia is an energy superpower, but we have more reserves than almost anybody else. We have always behaved, and we will continue to behave, in a responsible way. We intend to participate in the elaboration of common rules in the energy sector and to abide by rules which are developed together.

Russia will not soon become, if it ever becomes, a second copy of the United States or England - where liberal value have deep historic roots.