Putin Says Russia Is No 'Monster'
May 29, 2007 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged other countries to
stop portraying Russia as a "monster" with "claws and horns" when it comes to
democracy and human rights.
He said problems should be solved "without arrogance," adding that no country
is "white, pure, and furry."
Putin made the remarks after talks in Moscow with Portuguese Prime Minister
Jose Socrates, whose country takes over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.
Putin also warned about U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense shield in
Europe.
"We consider it harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a powderkeg and fill
it with new types of armaments," Putin said. "This creates new, unnecessary
risks for the entire system of international relations in the world and in
Europe."
(Interfax, ITAR-TASS)
