Putin: West Has No right To Force Their Values On Other Nations

Vladimir Putin has criticized Western powers for trying to impose their values and their version of “democracy” on the rest of the world.

In a documentary aired on Russian state television on Sunday, the Russian president said that the leaders of certain Western countries had no right to force their ways on African and Middle Eastern nations.

Press TV reports:

“You can’t just impose your version of democracy, of good and evil, onto people of other cultures, with other religions and traditions in this mechanic, automatic way,” the Russian leader said in the documentary, titled World Order.

Referring to the issue of foreign interference in the internal affairs of countries, Putin said, “The most important thing is not to undermine legitimate governments, not to destroy their statehood even if it appears to be imperfect.”
The Russian president further slammed the West for thinking they are “infallible,” and still managing to refuse to take responsibility for their actions in different parts of the world whenever they deem it necessary.

Pointing to the crisis in Syria, Putin said Russia is ready to cooperate with all parties interested in resolving the conflict.

“It is easy for us to work with [Syrian] President [Bashar] Assad and with the American side – I’ve talked about it recently with [US] President [Barack] Obama – and with our friends from the Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Why is it easy? We do not wag the tail and change our position. We slowly, before formulating our own position, listened to everybody and chose the line which we think is acceptable to everyone,” Putin said.