The Patriarch of world politics, former Prime Minister and President of Israel Shimon Peres during a recent meeting with Vladimir Putin advised the person does not behave like a king and to stop investing in nonsense.
Peres said that he had given this advice to Putin during a visit to Russia to participate in the economic forum in the Northern capital.
After a visit to Saint Petersburg Shimon Peres visited Moscow, where he met in the Kremlin with Vladimir Putin. It was there and there was a dialogue 93-year-old Patriarch of world politics and the 63–year-old President of Russia.
The interview with Peres was released in English-language Israeli magazine Tablet the next day after the death of one of the founders of the Jewish state.
“He was relaxed and focused and was in pretty good shape for a 93-year-old man, who was going to put her on a pacemaker,” he described companion the journalist of the edition. The conversation took place on August 31 in Jaffa, the Peres Centre for peace.
The newspaper planned to publish an interview on the eve of Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New year. But then, after the death of Perez, a decision was made earlier of the date of the publication of conversations.
“The last interview” was the name of the material.
The interlocutors touched upon a lot of issues. Perez told the Council, the leader of China: “You have to decide if you’re the giver or the taker. The greatest mistake is to take something by force. The greatest wisdom is to give something back”.
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Start from the word “taker”, the source of Shimon Peres asked him about the President of Russia that “playing by outdated rules, directed to the past,… retool your army, then ate the Crimea, then ate the Eastern part of Ukraine and now bombing Syria with bases in Iran”.
In answering this question, Shimon Peres told about his impressions of the meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2015 (it was, as it turned out, the last personal meeting of the two politicians).
“I and Putin are actually very good friends. And I will give you briefly the contents of one of our last conversations,” said Shimon Peres.
“I told him, “You are 63 years old – I 93. Tell me what you want to achieve in the next 30 years? What are you fighting for? Are you hoping to spoil America?
He says, “No.”
America wants a part of Russia? No. You have problems in the negotiations with Obama?
He says: “Why do you ask?”.
I said, look, I’m no spy, whatever it was – tell me.
He says: “what do you think?”
And I said, America wins, no matter what you do.
“Why?” he asked.
Because they are lucky, and you don’t.
I told him more. He sees the American in the morning when she wakes up? In the South – Mexico are Mexicans in their country. In the North – Canada, and they are the best friends in the world. And right and left – the fish in the water.
What should worry Obama? Here you are: you Wake up in the morning, and what do you have? Japan, China, Afghanistan? My God! They know that you have a huge land, and you don’t give them an inch. You own 20% of fresh water – and nothing. So that when in Siberia the snow melts, the first thing you will see will be Chinese. Because in the East many Chinese, but not so many Russian.
The second thing I said to him: America best ratio between land area and number of people. And you have the worst. Twenty million square kilometers. My God! But what you have is people. Your people are dying. Don’t be fooled by the applause and the fact that people are talking about. They will not forgive you. Why is the life expectancy of Russians – 62 years, and the Americans – ‘ 82?
And then I told him: you’re acting like the king. I’m very Frank. I said, what did kings do? They developed two cities – St. Petersburg and Moscow as a showcase. There you will find all what you want. And the rest of Russia is like Nigeria, covered with snow. People have to die. You don’t give them life. I think they will forgive you?
Why America is great? – I asked him. Because they’re of the giver. Why the problems in Europe? Because they – from the taker. America gives and people think it’s because she’s generous. And I think that she is wise. Giving, you make friends. The best investments to make friends.
America had the courage to accept the Marshall plan, a huge chunk of their GDP they gave to a dying Europe. And thus they showed that it is the best investment in the world.
No European country that hasn’t been Empire: France, Britain, Portugal – all. And what happened? They were thrown out and left with nothing. England, the greatest Empire from sunrise to sunset, every ocean, and lovely peaceful Indians threw them out and left them nothing but three small Islands, and they don’t know what to do with them.
Believe me, I said to Putin, enemies and enmity is the biggest waste in life. You invest in stupidity” – quoted by the magazine Perez.
“But why did they have to go to NATO?”, – gave Perez a question to Putin during their meeting in 2015, in the Kremlin.
“Putin said: “Listen to what they want from me? What this NATO? The Soviet Union is no more. The Warsaw Pact was liquidated. I’m ready to become a NATO member like you! But why do they need NATO Georgia? Why do they need Romania to join NATO? They want to go to Europe, let them go to Europe. But with what army they want to fight?
And then he said, “You think I didn’t know that the Crimea is Russian, and Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine as a gift? I really didn’t care until you needed the Ukrainians to NATO. Why? For what? I didn’t touch them. They wanted to go to Europe, I said fine, go to Europe. But why did they have to go to NATO?”
Putin said that he talked to Obama. He said: “I told Obama: “you Know what? I’m ready to join you in the middle East. Economically, not militarily. I invested in Libya $ 4 billion, we are working to transition there.” Then one morning I read that Obama has cut contact with Libya. I lost $ 4 billion. And so I asked him: “Why did you do that? You’re thinking, what’s next?”.
I told Putin: listen, in spite of everything, why don’t you do as the Americans do things? Create another government. Or some governing body that will allow companies to grow. The only thing you have is the government. In government you have the most ambitious people. They are corrupt, they corrupt other, they are not loyal. Create a company and let them do the same for us companies.
“Well, he says. – What do you suggest?”
I said, we have in Israel a million Russian-speaking people. We are the best in science, may be among the best. We are ready to help you. Work outside of government. Or leave the government, they are still all corrupt. You can’t win.
He says, “Okay, let’s try,” said Perez in the interview.
