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President Putin: No Iron Curtain, but National Defence

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EIRNS —Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview on Friday, Nov. 23, with Andrei Vandenko of Itar-TASS Top Officials project declared that Russia is not planning to contest with Western officials or erect a new ``Iron Curtain,’’ but Russia will defend its national interests.

``We don’t need to contest. We simply don’t need to contest. We simply need to calmly implement our agenda.’’ Putin drew the parallel between the Western attacks on Yeltsin, which began the moment Yeltsin defended Russian interests in the Balkans, and the present attacks on himself over Ukraine. He said the issue is not really about eastern Ukraine or Crimea. There are contending geopolitical interests.

``The struggle for geopolitical interests leads to the situation when a country either becomes stronger, resolving its financial, defence, economic and subsequently social issues more effectively, or slides into the category of third-, fifth-rated countries, losing a possibility to safeguard the interests of its
people.’’ Putin said that Russia will not isolate itself from the rest of the world ``And nobody is going to build a wall around us. It is impossible.’’

Jeffrey Steinberg