The Putin Interviews

Hi. Nice to meet you. - Hello, Mr. President. How are you today?

Yeah?

I'm... tired today, a little bit.

I didn't sleep well.

Yeah, but your muscles hurt.

I took a nice walk.

I took a nice walk with my wife in the park.

And I was thinking about Sochi in the fourth century BC,

what it must have been like here.

Is that your... Is that his home?

It's pretty.

Pretty, peaceful here. Do you want to talk out here?

I mean, uh, tell him I'm fine either way.

Can we start?

Should we go in that way?

- Yeah. All right. - Just, you know. Let's...

This was a rehearsal out here.

I wanted to go over the Ukraine crisis.

We've had this discussion before on my first visit, on the terrorists.

I wanted to go over it, just to be really clear,

because this is very important to the, uh...

to people who will be watching this show.

Both EU and Ukrainian officials said on Thursday,

the suspension of talks on closer ties could be revived

after the two-day meeting,

but officials said the deal was off the table for now.

From November to February 20th,

2013 into 14, there was quite a bit of protest.

I remember him vividly on television saying it was

a coup in slow motion.

It was pretty evident, transparent to the Russians.

The Ukraine to us was not... We were not paying attention.

No... Yeah.

Of course. Of course.

For weeks, this European capital has been the scene of a violent uprising.

Today, the bloodiest day yet.

The protesters are pushing up towards the government district,

armed here with Molotov cocktails,

but we saw handguns and shotguns too.

There is absolutely no doubt that snipers are working here.

I've counted ten bodies.

There are casualties on both sides.

Well, she just said that there are six dead people up there.

Not just injured, dead. They say they've been hit by snipers.

Fourteen policemen dead and 43 wounded?

During the Maidan Massacre,

did you get any intelligence of what was going on?

It's the strangest massacre

because of the number of casualties of policemen

and the civilians who were killed indicates...

And the policemen not firing back,

they were retreating and called back by Yanukovych.

During that, it seems like there was this...

A sniper force that was definitely aiming

at the policemen and the civilians to create

the chaos necessary for the takeover.

Well, who were these snipers?

Have you heard any reports about the training that was going on in other cities

of battalion, of, uh, certain Right-party Sectors?

Hardened, uh, people of the right?

Hundred-man units came to the city, I am told

in the days before the, uh, the Maidan.

It was characterized in the US press

as if Yanukovych abandoned Kiev.

Ukraine's parliament has voted for the new speaker of the assembly

to become interim president.

Oleksandr Turchynov called on lawmakers

to form an interim government by Tuesday.

These latest developments follow the dismissal

of president Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday.

I'd like to ask is, Mr. Obama during this period,

what kind of communications did you have with him?

Obviously, you didn't agree.

Are you still talking to him?

Would you say relations, uh, the dialogue is cordial?

Do they see each other visually when they talk?

Yes. May I... So this is just a trivial question,

I've always been curious. Do they call each other

Vladimir and Barack? Or do they call...

First name? That's great.

Can we talk about outside influences in this Ukraine story now?

We know the about the NGOs that were operating in Ukraine.

We know that Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for Eastern Europe,

was very active supporting change in government.

Good to see you. We're here from America.

Would you like some bread? Please, take something. Please.

We've invested over five billion dollars

to assist Ukraine in these and other goals

that will ensure a secure and prosperous and democratic Ukraine.

We know that Senator John McCain,

visited and was seen at rallies

with extremist leaders, including some neo-Nazis.

This is about the future you want for your country.

This is about the future you deserve.

We know that America

and the National Endowment for Democracy,

which is a, uh, also a very influential pr...

A non-profit, private NGO, was very active, very active here.

Carl Gershman, who was the president of it, made very strong speeches,

uh, he wanted an independent Ukraine.

And we know that the Hungarian billionaire hedge funder,

George Soros was also very involved in supporting

the groups from here, in Ukraine.

In other words, United States can unite...

Can keep a united pro-American Europe,

and NATO, with an external enemy such as Russia.

The final assault came

amidst fire and ice,

snipers on rooftops.

The Heavenly Hundred paid the ultimate price of patriots the world over.

Their blood and courage

delivering to the Ukrainian people a second chance for freedom.

Their sacrifice...

to put it bluntly,

is now your obligation.

In hindsight, looking back,

did you make a mistake by annexing Crimea?

Because it cost you tremendously.

The sanctions, the whole East EU turns on Russia, the US.

It becomes big news, because it's... it's illegal.

It's regarded as illegal in the international post-war treaty world.

But it does raise questions on whether this vote really is free and fair,

especially given the heavy military presence in Crimea right now. Errol?

More than 95 percent voted to become part of Russia.

Officials said there was an unprecedented turnout,

with at least eight of ten eligible Crimeans having their say.

But economically, as you say, you're self-sufficient.

They're gone. Let them have their problems.

It's not gonna destroy your country.

And at one point, you told me in our last, uh, meeting that,

I asked you, I said what about the, you know, the Russian submarine base

in Crimea at Sevastopol.

He said it wasn't threatened

by the loss of the base.

Even if NATO made an agreement with Ukraine,

I still don't see the threat to Russia,

in a new... with a new, with the new weaponry.

You know, this is a pretty big place you got here.

Can you show me around?

How do they heat this place?

No, don't tell me.

Don't tell me. Don't tell me.

Do you get lonely at night, when you walk the corridors?

I know you have an office here,

because I know... It's hidden away.

I was in it once.

It was Stalin's old office.

Yeah.

Ten years of Munich speech.

He looks good.

Could've been a movie star.

February.

So today's the day you got into trouble.

You had quite an audience.

Is this where you work now?

Do you take meetings in here too?

- Sevastopol, you say? - Yes, sir.

That's why you fought for it. No.

So two desks. How does he use them?

- That's mine. - Yes. Yes.

Ah, that's great. Mm-hmm.

That's my history book, cowritten.

Yeah. Sure. Endless curiosity.