For Russia, there is not and there may not be another political option but democracy. However, Russian democracy is... not at all the realization of standards imposed on us from outside.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Russian democracy is the power of the Russian people with their own traditions of national self-government, and not the realisation of standards foisted on us from outside.
Russians have a new freedom, but as long as they don't express that freedom on a public platform.
In my personal opinion, Russia is no less democratic than it used to be. It is a democratic country. It is democratic enough.
The United States can't impose democracies. We can't impose our will. The Russians found that out in Afghanistan.
Political activities in Russia should be as transparent as possible. Financing political activities from abroad is something the state should keep an eye on.
There is always, of course, a limit in a democracy as to what is politically possible, so you have to respect that limit. But in my experience, governments tend to be too timid.
If there are people who act outside the law, then the state must use legal means to impose law in the interests of majority. That's the way it's done in the U.S., and that's the way it's done in Russia.
We believe democracy cannot be imposed from outside in any society. Democracy is the expression of a sovereign people.
We, Russia, are prepared to work with others. I am convinced that stability and security in Europe cannot be considered without taking Russia into account.
Despite elections and the experience of post-Soviet personal freedoms by the Russian people, the fate of democracy in Russia is perhaps more ambiguous now than at any time since the collapse of the Communist system.
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