“It is the United States who uses cluster munitions. In this case, they just do it with the hands of the Ukrainian Army. And so this side (the US) thinks that it is a crime, but allows itself to perpetrate it,” Putin said. “This is the main problem in international relations. And this is why the majority of the participants of the international communication [process] strive together with us to create the multipolar world.”
He added that even the countries that are currently regarded as allies of the United States are none too thrilled by this situation.
According to Putin, the United States tries to resolve any issues it encounters through force, threats or economic sanctions. He noted that Russia does not pose a threat to anyone and that the Americans themselves admit that the real threat comes from the White House.
“A few years ago, a former US secretary of defense – Mr. Gates, I believe – said that the biggest threat to the United States comes from the territory where the Capitol is located, I believe, or the White House,” Putin said.
Regarding the prospects of negotiating with Ukraine, the Russian president pointed out that Moscow has never refused to parlay with Kiev, but the latter is yet to express an interest in dialogue.
“I’ve said before, we have never refused to negotiate, so please, if the other side wants it, it must speak about it directly,” he said. However, at this time Moscow hears nothing from the other side, Putin added.
Furthermore, Russia has recorded facts of presence of foreign instructors on the battlefield in the special military operation zone, and some of them were captured recently, the president said.
“We detect foreign mercenaries and foreign instructors both on the battlefield and in the units where training is carried out. I think that, yesterday and the day before yesterday someone was captured once again,” Putin told reporters.
On Special Military Op
As many as 300,000 volunteers have already signed up to join Russia's special military operation, Vladimir Putin remarked.
"I said a couple of days ago that our men, our soldiers, had already signed contracts with the Russian armed forces, 270,000, but this was already outdated data. This morning they reported about 300,000 signed contracts by people who, I want to emphasize, are ready to sacrifice their lives in the interests of their homeland, defending the interests of Russia," he said.
Commenting on statements about North Koreans allegedly volunteering to fight in the special military operation, the president called them nonsense, adding that Russia does not need to send foreigners to fight in the operation.
On Relations With North Korea
Russia never violates anything and does not intend to do so, but will develop relations with North Korea within the framework of the international law, President Vladimir Putin highlighted.
“[North] Korea is our neighbor, we must build good neighborly relations with our neighbors one way or another. Yes, there are certain features associated with the Korean peninsula, we discuss this, we discuss it openly. We never violate anything and in this case we are not going to violate anything, but, of course, we will look for opportunities for the development of Russian-North Korean relations,“ Putin said during a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi.