Vladimir Zhirinovsky Announces Russian Cultural Revival Plan as Priority for Presidential Election Campaign
60 Minutes live — the most essential news.
CNN... Let's look at this picture. CNN is discussing the phone conversation between Trump and Putin. According to CNN — even though trusting CNN should be considered inappropriate — they were discussing Syria. There's also unconfirmed information that they discussed North Korea, as well as Ukraine, to the joy of my colleague. However, there's another very important piece of Russian news. We have a new candidate for President. We learned today that Vladimir Zhirinovsky will run for President. He was nominated by his party. Unexpectedly, or predictably, Vladimir Zhirinovsky will try to become the Russian President for the sixth time. Greetings, Mr. Zhirinovsky. Vladimir Zhirinovsky thanked the members of his party for willing to nominate him at the convention. Anyway, we are sure, he is now their presidential candidate.
Ноst: Mr. Zhirinovsky, you have been asked this question six times, no less. What will be your first decree?
Zhirinovsky: My first decree will be devoted to the protection of the Russian language. So that we all speak Russian well, so that there are less foreign words. Because every month we contaminate our language, and the young generation especially in rural areas, sometimes can't understand every word.
My first decree is not that important. I must ensure that the laws work. Laws are more important than decrees. But, well, if we continue speculating, it might as well be connected to suggesting the State Duma begin the mass construction of social housing. We must escape mortgages. Housing is backbone of society. People can't endure paying these huge mortgages.
We must decrease unemployment. We can help with that. There must be no hungry people. Three main things are a job, accommodation, and proper nourishment. We must eradicate food advertisements. So that one doesn't have a sudden urge to rush to the kitchen. We need quality medications. So that every person can live happily. The President must consider these issues, but they need to be solved by the government.
The President has his foreign policy. Our foreign policy is experiencing changes that the LDPR has long been suggesting. We must build vertical relations North-South, not East-West. We've been burning ourselves in the West for the whole 20th century.
These days three Presidents are meeting in Sochi: the Russian, Turkish, and Iranian. That's what we were talking about. We are finally making the right steps in our foreign policy. We've already achieved great goals in the realm of defense. Our agricultural industry managed to produce a lot of grain, but doesn’t have many places to store it, and so as a result prices have decreased. So we left the producers worse off. They do a lot, but don't earn much. We need to build more grain elevators, so that they can keep their grain there, and then sell it at a higher price, so that they can earn money. We need a comprehensive approach. Towards housing, and roads, and education.
Host: Speaking of foreign policy, what will happen to Ukraine if you become our President, and how would you comment on 90% of Syrian territory being free from ISIS? Even though, we know, the next steps aren't easy.
Zhirinovsky: Regarding the latter one: it's a major victory. Syria is practically free from the radicals that have been torturing the land for almost five years.
Regarding Ukraine, everything should be done voluntarily. But, according to our Constitution, the President must protect the Russians who live in neighbor states. We must protect them more effectively in Ukraine. We shouldn't allow them to kill people in Donbass. And speaking of culture and language, I already spoke about protecting the Russian language, in our near abroad included. Ukraine is trying to get rid of the Russian language. The Baltic countries ban it. It bears great political importance. Ukraine, Novorossiya, those south-eastern territories of Ukraine, called Novorossiya, that would want to join Russia.
I would focus my efforts on protecting them and making their wish come true. Voluntarily, by means of referendums, as well as economic, diplomatic and even military measures. My goal is to protect the population from the havoc and violence that Donbass is currently witnessing.
Host: Thank you, Mr. Zhirinovsky for giving us a live interview. Vladimir Zhirinovsky who was nominated as a candidate for President of the Russian Federation by his party. The convention just needs to make things official. We wish him luck. It's going to be fine.