Gleb Pavlovsky Quotes

I have nothing to do with Putin. I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him other than he will respect me.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin is viewed as a progressive Democrat.

Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.

Putin needs strong moves to keep the country as one. There is some criticism that he is centralizing power, but in Russia, if you don't centralize power, you have the risk of losing the country.

Russian elites believe that he [President Vladimir Putin] serves the same function as the Czars of old, keeping diverse political clans and their leaders (the boyars) in balance, preventing the civil war or chaos that a country of Russia’s vast size and relative emptiness would face if it were left open to competition by those who retain loyal militias.

All of the people who work in the Russian government and Russian presidential administration, in this way or another, work for Vladimir Putin.

We never make editorial decisions with people who are working closely with Vladimir Putin, unless you consider myself a person who is working closely with Vladimir Putin.

Putin has big plans for Russia...Hats off to the Russians. I think I would just get along very well with Vladimir Putin.

We have Mr. Putin in Russia. And he appears to be a popular president of Russia. And I don't think it's the business of the National Endowment for Democracy or American diplomats or American foreign policy to try to change the nature of that government.

For Mr. Putin, vacillation invites aggression. His world is a brutish, cynical place, where power is worshiped, weakness is despised, and all rivalries are zero-sum.

I think it is my big advantage that I know Putin personally... that he can trust me, that he can see in me a new generation. I want to be a person who really makes him see how many people are against the system.

My father used to say that you haven't learnt anything about politics unless you've been out of power for at least 10 years. That's why I am certain I am here to stay.

Donald Trump himself has financial ties to oligarchs in Russia who are close to Putin.

I think Putin's popularity was genuine when he first came to power. He was seen as a welcome relief from the Yeltsin era.

It's certainly true that presidents have confidantes who rise above what you would call just staff.

George Bush looked into Putin's eyes and saw his soul in the first meeting he had in Slovenia. And then in the next meeting, he realized his soul was very dark.

Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has embarked on a systematic challenge to the West. The goal is to weaken the bonds between Europe and the United States and among E.U. members, undermine NATO's solidarity, and strengthen Russia's strategic position in its immediate neighborhood and beyond.

I've learned over the years to hear what Putin is railing against in his own railing way.

He's my idol. Putin is a beauty.

You can't put an age on power.

I really can't abide conspiracy theories, because I believe that everything in the world stems from idiocy and incompetence. That's certainly true of most of what's happened in Russia under Putin.

Since 2012, Putin has made it perhaps his largest foreign policy priority to have the Magnitsky Act repealed. But none of his efforts have worked. Not only has it not been repealed, it's spread to six additional countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, the Baltic states and Gibraltar.

The problem with Russia is not corruption per se, or even Putin per se. Russian government is not corrupt because Vladimir Putin has absolute power. Russian government has been corrupt and will always be as long as anyone has absolute power.

Getting rid of the Magnitsky Act is one of the top, if not the top, priorities of the Putin regime.

The collapse of the Soviet Union could not have been a source of national pride for many in Russia. The one person who has capitalized on this the most has been Vladimir Putin.