VLADIATOR
Putin declares liberal values are ‘obsolete’ and dismisses Skripal poisoning as a ‘fuss’ that’s ‘not worth five pounds’
VLADIMIR Putin last night blasted "liberal values" as "obsolete" - and dismissed the Skripal scandal as a "fuss" that's "not worth five pounds."
The hardman Russian president said voters worldwide have rejected lax immigration laws - and that "traditional values" are more important than embracing LGBT rights.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin says two suspects in Novichok poison attack on Skripals in Salisbury have been found but they're 'not criminals'
He also addressed the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury last year - claiming "it is not worth serious interstate relations."
His comments came in a wide-ranging interview with the - which broadly covered Russia's frosty relationship with the West.
Ripping into Western liberal values, the Kremlin hardman picked out German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow an influx of migrants from the Middle East in recent years.
Estimates have suggested that up to a million refugees and migrants had entered Germany within a year of the policy being adopted.
The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population
Vladimir Putin
Putin said: "The liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done.
"The migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants must be protected.
"What rights are these? Every crime must have its punishment."
He added: "So, the liberal idea has become obsolete.
"It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population."
Putin also insisted that Russia is not homophobic - but defended "traditional values" which he said are "more stable and more important for millions of people."
He insisted the "liberal idea" towards LGBT rights "is really ceasing to exist."
EU'S TUSK HITS BACK
European Union President Donald Tusk hit back at the comments - saying they suggest a belief that "freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete."
Speaking at the G20 summit, he said: "We are here as Europeans also to firmly and unequivocally defend and promote liberal democracy."
Tusk added: "What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs.
"Even if sometimes they may seem effective."
SKRIPAL 'FUSS'
On the Skripal affair, President Putin said he hoped this week's G20 meeting with Theresa May could help repair relations following the scandal.
London blamed Moscow for poisoning the former Russian spy and his daughter with a nerve agent smeared on the door of their Salisbury home in March 2018.
Relations plunged to post-Cold War lows following the attempted murders - which sparked international outrage.
This morning Mrs May said her decision to meet Vladimir Putin did not mean a return to "business as usual" with Russia as she stepped up demands for the suspects to face justice.
"It's not business as usual and it can't be business as usual with Russia until they stop the sort of acts we have seen them doing around the world," she told ITV News.
The departing PM added: "Russia does not allow the extradition of its nationals but there are European arrest warrants out for those two individuals and as soon as they set foot outside Russia, we will be making every effort to bring them to justice."
But President Putin claimed the scandal was not worth discussing - and hoped that Mrs May's departure as PM will allow her to ease tensions with Moscow.
All this fuss about spies and counterspies, it is not worth serious interstate relations. This spy story, as we say, it is not worth five kopecks. Or even five pounds, for that matter
Vladimir Putin
He said: "All this fuss about spies and counterspies, it is not worth serious interstate relations.
"This spy story, as we say, it is not worth five kopecks.
"Or even five pounds, for that matter.
"I think that both Russia and the UK are interested in fully restoring our relations.
"At least I hope that a few preliminary steps will be made.
"I think it would be easier for Mrs May, maybe, because she is leaving and is free to do what she thinks is right, important and necessary and not to bother about some domestic political consequences."
Prime Minister Theresa May reveals that Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov are members of the GRU and are wanted in conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire
MOST READ IN WORLD NEWS
British police charged two Russian military intelligence officers - known by the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.
Moscow denies involvement in the attack - which prompted the biggest wave of diplomatic expulsions between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.
Mrs May last met Putin at a G20 summit in Argentina in November, when the Russian leader approached her informally.
Putin mocks Tory leadership race saying it shows Britain's not democratic
By Hugo Gye
VLADIMIR Putin claimed the Tory leadership race proves Britain isn't a real "democratic country".
The Russian leader hit out at the process to pick the next PM because most voters won't get a say.
He insisted that his own country is more open - even though Russia's elections are widely believed to be rigged to keep the ruling party in power.
Putin told the FT: "It is different from what you have in Great Britain. We are a democratic country.
"In your country, one leader has left, and the second leader, who is for all intents and purposes the top figure in the state, is not elected by a direct vote of the people, but by the ruling party.
"It is different in Russia, as we are a democratic country. If our top officials leave for some reason, because they want to retire from politics like Boris Yeltsin, or because their term ends, we hold an election through universal direct secret ballot."
Either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will become Prime Minister next month after a vote of the Tory party's 160,000 members.
Theresa May hit out at Putin - who she'll meet at the G20 summit in Japan - saying: "It's not business as usual and it can't be business as usual with Russia until they stop the sort of acts we have seen them doing around the world.
"We in the UK have seen the use of a nerve agent, a chemical weapon, on the streets of Salisbury.
"I want to see the individuals, against whom charges have been brought, brought to justice."
Timeline of movements of Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who are suspected of conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire
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Police name two Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov as suspects in the Salisbury novichok attack
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