Putin says riots following George Floyd killing symptom of deep-rooted crisis in America

The U.S. riots show deep internal crises in this country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" posted on the program's host Pavel Zarubin's Instagram page.

"What has happened [in the US] is the manifestation of some deep domestic crises," the head of state said, noting that this crisis had been observed for a long time since US President Donald Trump assumed office. "When he won, and his victory was absolutely obvious and democratic, the defeated party invented all sort of bogus stories just to call into question his legitimacy," Putin explained.

The Russian leader noted that he usually tries to "comment carefully or not to comment on what is happening in other countries."

Putin has said that the key issue with the US democratic structure is that parties put their preferences above that of the citizens.

"It seems to me that the problem is that group party interests in this case are placed above the interests of the entire society and the interests of people," the Russian leader said commenting on the events in the United States.

According to Putin, regardless of the cost and losses, Russia’s authorities have been working on combating the coronavirus rather rhythmically and are confidently ironing out the crisis with minimum losses. "This is not so in the US, including the management system," the president said. He noted that in Russia the expanded government represented by the cabinet and gubernatorial corps work as a single team.

"I doubt that someone here, in the government or in the region could say: "We won’t do what the government or the president says. We believe this is inadvisable. <...> Back off," the president said.

Putin stressed that of course democracy is the power of people but "if people choose supreme bodies of power, then these supreme bodies of power vested with people’s trust have the right to organize the work of executive power bodies in order to guarantee the interests of the overwhelming majority of citizens in the country.".

The interview was recorded in the Kremlin during the conversation with the journalist, not in the format of a video conference.

Riots in Europe and US

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called riots over racial issues in the United States and Europe a destructive phenomenon, stressing that Russia needs to hold onto its multinationalism.

"We’ll look, what can be forecast there. In any cases, these are destructive phenomena, no doubt," Putin said in an interview with "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya-1 TV channel published on Telegram channel of host Vladimir Solovyov.

He drew attention to demands for African Americans to be handled exclusively by African American physicians, suggesting that it would be ridiculous to believe in such a multi-ethnic nation as Russia where the Mari people be addressed only by the Mari, the Russians only by the Russians, the Tatars only by the Tatars, and the Dagestans only by the Dagestans.

"Dagestan found itself in a challenging situation [over the coronavirus] and the entire country offered assistance: the army arrived and the Emergencies Ministry arrived and doctors from entire country came, including from Moscow. Is this bad?" Putin said.

"On the contrary, this is Russia’s strength, the strength of our multi-ethnic state and multinational people. We should hold onto this," Putin stressed.

He noted that human rights campaigns that take the shape of looting and violence can bring about no good.

"When it acquires an element of such radical nationalism and extremism, nothing good can come out it. When campaigns for natural, legal rights takes the shale of violence and looting, I see nothing good for the state here," he said.

He stressed that Russia’s authorities "have never supported" such scenarios. He recalled that historically both Russia and the former Soviet Union had been taking African Americans’ struggle for their rights with sympathy. "As for things linked with relations between the white population and African Americans, it is a long-standing problem in the United States. By the way, we, both in the former Soviet Union and in Russia, have always been sympathetic about African American’s struggling for their natural rights. Always," Putin said.

The Russian president expressed the hope that the fundamental foundations of American democracy would help the United States overcome the crisis it has plunged into in the recent time. "I hope that in the long run the fundamental bases of American democracy <…> will help, make it possible for this country to emerge from time of crises it is now living through," Putin stressed, adding that the United States is "a very strong democratic power.".

Mass protests and riots sparked in many US states following the death of African American George Floyd. He died in hospital after a police officer used a choke hold during his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. All four involved police officers were fired and charged. The National Guard joined local police in an effort to combat the riots. A curfew was introduced in nearly 40 cities, including Washington D.C. and New York.

Source: TASS RUSSIAN NEWS AGENCY