{"id":273468,"date":"2016-12-01T17:33:01","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T17:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=273468"},"modified":"2016-12-01T17:33:01","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T17:33:01","slug":"russia-not-seeking-conflict-putin-tells-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/12\/russia-not-seeking-conflict-putin-tells-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia ‘not seeking conflict’ – Putin tells nation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Russia is “not seeking conflict with anyone”, President Vladimir Putin has said in his annual Kremlin speech to parliament and the nation.<\/p>\n
“Unlike some foreign colleagues who see Russia as the enemy, we do not seek – and never sought – enemies. We need friends,” he said.<\/p>\n
But “we will not permit harm to our interests”, he added.<\/p>\n
He said Russia was ready to work with the new US administration to fight terrorism.<\/p>\n
Mr Putin has previously said he hopes for better relations with the US once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.<\/p>\n
He praised the courage of Russian military personnel fighting rebel groups in Syria, in support of President Bashar al-Assad – and drew applause in the ornate Kremlin hall.<\/p>\n
“Of course I’m counting on joint efforts with the US in fighting a real – not invented – threat, that is, international terrorism,” he said.<\/p>\n
He also warned that any attempt to “break the strategic parity” could be globally catastrophic – an apparent reference to the Russian-US nuclear balance.<\/p>\n