OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2011. During his visit to the Channel One headquarters late yesterday, the prime minister learned how the information programmes desk works and toured the news studio and the production control room. Vladimir Putin also attended the shooting of the TV talent show A Minute of Fame.

Transcript:

Vladimir Putin: Good Morning!
Konstantin Ernst: Have some, Mr Putin! I don't think you had time to have dinner.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you! Do you always work nights?
Konstantin Ernst: Usually, yes. The information programmes desk works 24 hours a day.
Arina Sharapova: We always watch TV from morning till night – from the "Dobroye Utro" (Good Morning) programme to everything that is broadcast at night.
Konstantin Ernst: Most of those here will promote their specific programme formats...
Arina Sharapova: Did you say "Dobroye Utro"? I meant to say "This is Only for Me". May I ask a question?
Vladimir Putin: You may. But in fact, I really came down here to wish Mr Ernst a happy birthday since it is coming up.
Konstantin Ernst: Thank you!
Arina Sharapova: I want to ask you a question as the host of "Dobroye Utro." After all, we entertain people first thing in the morning and energise them with optimism and vigour. Tell us, please, you have an extremely demanding schedule, we know; how do you manage, given such a schedule, to survive, if I may be so bold? How do you recuperate? How much do you sleep?

Vladimir Putin: Six hours.
Arina Sharapova: Is six hours enough for you?
Konstantin Ernst: May I interject here? One of my acquaintances said that he left Mr Putin's office yesterday at 2:40 a.m.
Vladimir Putin: We held a meeting on a very important issue, a very serious one of great social significance – salary and military pension. The meeting was over at 1:30 a.m. And then there were still a number of people who couldn't leave without asking a couple of questions, and so we finished just past 2 a.m.

Arina Sharapova: Do you have a cup of coffee in the morning?
Vladimir Putin: I don't drink coffee.
Arina Sharapova: Tea?
Vladimir Putin: I drink it, but very rarely.

Question: Are there times when you just want to rest?
Vladimir Putin: There are.
Question: Do you manage to?
Vladimir Putin: I manage to, of course. It is not a "crazy" schedule, as you said, such a schedule is...
Remark: Extremely demanding!
Vladimir Putin: But sure, it is arduous, of course. But since I like what I do, as do you...
Remark: Yes, it's true.
Vladimir Putin: Basically, when a person is happy doing his job, it's a source of enjoyment.
Remark: Well, judging by how you look, this is true...
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much. Likewise.
Kirill Kleimyonov: In the news, Mr Putin, the topic besides Egypt that has certainly dominated the last two weeks is the terrorist attack at Domodedovo. And, by all appearances, the investigation has determined that the most likely scenario can be traced to Dagestan.

Vladimir Putin: Has the investigation said that the trail leads to Dagestan?
Kirill Kleimyonov: Well, at least the main suspects were named.
Vladimir Putin: Who named them?
Kirill Kleimyonov: Well, I agree that... At least, there were no denials.
Vladimir Putin: I think that for the official news to be able to talk about a trail, it needs to get credible information from the investigation and not rely on rumours.
Kirill Kleimyonov: Then, are you able to tell us anything about this trail?
Vladimir Putin: No, or rather, I could say something, but for now, I will not. The investigation is underway; people are working, working effectively, it must be said, in this sense.
Kirill Kleimyonov: Are there clues?
Vladimir Putin: No clues. Consider the entire case solved.
Kirill Kleimyonov: But in this context, there is a lot of talk about needing to adopt the practices of our peers – the American experience and the Israeli experience. Do you think this is really serious for us? Ben Gurion International Airport, for example, cannot be compared to any of Moscow’s airports in size. Ben Gurion serves many fewer flights and it is much easier to provide security there. There are dozens of airports like this in Russia.
Vladimir Putin: In fact, you have just answered your own question. You said Ben Gurion International Airport is considerably smaller in size than any Moscow airport. But, I think you made a wrong conclusion: a smaller airport takes less effort to protect than a bigger one.
Kirill Kleimyonov: This is exactly what I mean.
Vladimir Putin: Then excuse me if I misunderstood your question. We do indeed have many more airports in Russia and each of them is bigger and demands a greater security effort. But if your question was whether we can and should adopt their experience, then sure, we can and we should.
Kirill Kleimyonov: What specifically should we adopt?
Vladimir Putin: Everything they are more efficient in. And we should give them due credit as they have more efficient results. Is it possible to make similar efforts in Russia? Probably not in everything, but much can be done. Are we exchanging experience in this field? Certainly we are. We have established unprecedented contact and interaction with many special services, and I have to say that a common terrorist threat unites specialists. This work has brought results, and it is mutual. 
Certainly, there is much for law enforcement agencies to do and much work on the inside, on conditions that pose a threat to us. By ‘us’ I mean all Russian citizens first and foremost. And certainly, we should improve security at public places and infrastructure facilities, without consideration for time or money. In this case, we should adopt the experience of our foreign colleagues in many countries. Do we have different circumstances? I think we do. In Russia, the threat comes from within the country, while in other countries there is an external threat. Of course, this is a rather rough definition as we all have internal and external threats. Yet, overall the major threat in Russia comes from within while their threats are external. For instance, Israel is building a separation barrier, as you know. I will not give any political assessment as to whether it’s good or bad. I think it’s not efficient or civilized, but that’s not the point. In any case, the threat comes mostly from outside, as well as in the United States which is surrounded by Mexico in the south and Canada in the north, and two oceans in the east and west. Whereas we live in the centre of the Muslim world which is going through a highly difficult stage in its development, with Muslims affected by all these problems. This certainly has an impact on us while we have enough of our own problems. For us, this threat appears more relevant and challenging. Yet it also means we should act promptly.

Finally, I think there are certain character traits typical of Russians. We lose awareness too fast. People outside Russia are very much aware of and responsive to any threat, while so far it is different in our country. Today, people are leaving Egypt amid the current civil unrest while Russian tourists are still flying there on holiday.

Remark: With children and pregnant women…

Vladimir Putin: Even though looters are everywhere and there is stealing even in hotels. But Russians keep going there. The same is happening inside the country. We all – along with the mass media, special services, law enforcement agencies and public organizations – have to change our attitude to these issues.

I will say again that we have numerous problems in the country: we have to combat unemployment in the Caucasus as well as handle many other issues. But I have to say that the terrorism issue is equally acute for the well-to-do European countries as well, and it is obvious for all. It means that there is more to it than just the internal problems typical of Russia. It means that the world is going through a certain phase in its evolution and must endure all these hardships.

By the way, throughout its modern history mankind has seen outbreaks of terrorism but they eventually subside. This clearly indicates that this is a phase that the world is going through. I could go on, but there are objective things which require prompt action from all of us.

Alexei Pimanov: Can I ask another question? Following this terrorism act, there were numerous calls from those who had watched The Man and The Law TV programme, and the site nearly went down. They all asked the same question which has yet to be answered: why hasn’t anyone claimed responsibility for the attack? The next question is why is this done at all? Everyone asks this question and cannot understand.