莫斯科——俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京周五为他即将与美国总统举行的峰会设定了一个强硬的基调乔·拜登指责华盛顿试图遏制俄罗斯，并引用其对1月6日国会大厦致命袭击的回应作为西方双重标准的表现。
普京在圣彼得堡的一个经济论坛上说，军备控制、全球冲突、冠状病毒大流行和气候变化是他和拜登6月16日在日内瓦举行的峰会上讨论的问题。
普京说:“我们需要找到解决我们关系的方法，我们的关系现在处于极低的水平。”。
“我们与美国没有任何问题，”他继续说道。“但我们有一个问题。它想遏制我们的发展，公开谈论。经济限制和试图影响我们国家的国内政治，依靠他们认为他们在俄罗斯的盟友的力量，源于此。”
他表示希望这次会议将有助于缓解与华盛顿的紧张关系。由于莫斯科2014年吞并乌克兰克里米亚半岛，俄美关系跌至冷战后的低点，外界指责俄罗斯干涉乌克兰内政选举以及美国官员声称源自俄罗斯的网络攻击。
普京重申，俄罗斯拒绝接受干涉美国总统选举的指控，他批评了美国对国会大厦袭击的回应。国会准备证明拜登击败了当时的总统唐纳德·特朗普11月。
“他们不仅仅是一群强盗和暴徒。这些人带来了政治要求，”他说。
普京指出，对数百名袭击参与者的严厉指控是在美国及其盟友强烈批评白俄罗斯镇压反政府抗议的情况下提出的。他指责说，尽管西方批评俄罗斯当局对反克里姆林宫示威活动的严厉回应，但欧洲的抗议者面临着更严厉的警察回应，一些人被他讥讽地称为“民主橡皮子弹”击中了眼睛。
在随后与主要国际新闻机构负责人的视频会议上，普京表示，他与拜登的峰会“预计不会有任何突破性成果”。他说，美国和俄罗斯有一些相应的利益，“尽管存在某些分歧。这些分歧不是俄罗斯行动的结果。”
在回答美联社主席兼首席执行官加里·普鲁伊特的问题时，普京回到了指责美国关系不佳的主题。
“我们不是先采取步骤——我说的是恶化我们关系的步骤。不是我们对我们实施制裁，而是美国每次都这样做，甚至没有理由，仅仅因为我们的国家存在，”他通过翻译说。
他还批评美国过于自信，并与苏联相提并论。
“你知道问题是什么吗?我作为前苏联的前公民告诉你。帝国的问题是什么——它们认为自己如此强大，以至于可以承受小错误和失误，”他说。“但问题的数量正在增加。总有一天，他们再也无法处理。而美国，正以自信的步伐，坚定的步伐，沿着苏联的道路直线前进。”
在早些时候的会议上，普京称赞拜登是一位“非常有经验的政治家，一生都参与政治”...一个非常谨慎小心的人。我确实希望我们的会议将是积极的。”
他还花时间嘲笑俄罗斯黑客针对美国管道和一家肉类厂的指控，这些指控给峰会前的气氛蒙上了阴影。
“我真的希望人们能意识到俄罗斯没有任何恶意活动，”他说。“我听说了一些关于肉类植物的事情。纯属无稽之谈。我们都明白这很荒谬。管道?同样荒谬。”
普京说，“美国特种部队应该追踪那些索要赎金的人。肯定不是俄罗斯会向某家公司勒索。我们不卖鸡肉或牛肉。简直荒唐透顶。”
他声称，黑客指控是由那些试图“在我们与拜登会面之前挑起新的冲突”的人提出的，并补充说，美国一些人怀疑俄罗斯参与了黑客攻击。
他说:“这意味着在美国社会、媒体和政治阶层内部，有人希望找到修复美俄关系的方法。”。
在其他问题上，普京赞扬了俄罗斯对新冠肺炎疫情的反应，并呼吁在全球范围内对全球变暖做出更强有力的回应，以提高俄罗斯的国际地位。
在论坛上，普京称赞了俄罗斯设计的疫苗的效率，并哀叹了他所描述的在一些国家购买疫苗的“出于政治动机的禁令”。
去年，俄罗斯吹嘘自己是世界上第一个批准冠状病毒疫苗的国家，但自那以后，它在为本国人口注射疫苗方面进展缓慢。疫苗接种速度缓慢，部分原因是由于当局发出了有争议的信号，公众对疫苗持怀疑态度。
专家们质疑俄罗斯是否能够实现政府的目标，即到6月中旬为该国1.46亿人口中的3000多万人接种疫苗，到8月份为近6900万人接种疫苗。
普京再次敦促俄罗斯人迅速行动起来注射疫苗，他邀请外国人到俄罗斯接种疫苗，并表示他将指示政府为此提供便利。
他还强调了加强国际社会应对气候变化的必要性，并指出冻土融化对俄罗斯北极地区构成了重大挑战。
“我们整个城市都建在永久冻土上，”他说。“如果一切开始融化会发生什么?”
普京说，通往德国的预期北溪2号管道的两条线路中的第一条已经铺设好了管道，只剩下焊接来完成施工。他说二线马上就来了。
美国强烈反对俄罗斯管道的建设，但拜登政府上个月选择不惩罚监督该项目的德国公司，同时宣布对俄罗斯公司和船只的新制裁。克里姆林宫称赞这是普京-拜登峰会前的“积极信号”。
这位俄罗斯领导人称赞该项目比现有的穿越乌克兰的管道在经济上更可行，并拒绝了乌克兰和西方的批评，即该项目旨在剥夺基辅的过境费。
普京表示，根据现有的五年合同，俄罗斯将继续每年通过乌克兰输送400亿立方米的天然气，如果乌克兰表现出“善意”，俄罗斯可以在合同到期后继续这样做。
在莫斯科2014年吞并克里米亚半岛以及支持乌克兰东部的分离主义叛乱分子之后，俄罗斯和乌克兰一直处于紧张的拉锯战中。
普京谴责美国将美元用作政治武器，称“美元作为竞争和政治斗争的工具损害了美元作为世界储备货币的作用。”
俄罗斯周四表示，将从其国家财富基金中完全移除美元，并将美元计价的资产转化为欧元、人民币和黄金。俄罗斯长期以来一直在降低美元在其硬通货储备中的份额，因为它在与华盛顿及其盟友的紧张关系中面临美国的制裁。
Putin chafes at US, criticizes response to Capitol attack
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday set a tough tone for his upcoming summit with U.S. PresidentJoe Biden, accusing Washington of trying to contain Russia and citing its response to the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as a manifestation of the West's double standards.
Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said that arms control, global conflicts, the coronavirus pandemic and climate change are among the issues he and Biden would discuss at their June 16 summit in Geneva.
“We need to find ways of looking for a settlement in our relations, which are at an extremely low level now,” Putin said.
“We don’t have any issues with the U.S.,” he continued. “But it has an issue with us. It wants to contain our development and publicly talks about it. Economic restrictions and attempts to influence our country’s domestic politics, relying on forces they consider their allies inside Russia, stem from that.”
He voiced hope that the meeting will help ease tensions with Washington. Russia-U.S. ties have sunk to post-Cold War lows over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, accusations of Russian interference inelections in the U.S. and other Western nations, and cyberattacks that U.S. officials allege had Russian origins.
Putin reiterated that Russia rejects accusations of interfering in U.S. presidential elections, and he spoke critically of the U.S. response to the Capitol attack, which took place as Congress prepared to certify that Biden had defeated then-PresidentDonald Trumpin November.
“They weren’t just a crowd of robbers and rioters. Those people had come with political demands,” he said.
Putin pointed out that the heavy charges against hundreds of participants in the attack were filed even as the U.S. and its allies strongly criticized Belarus’ crackdown on anti-government protests. And he charged that even as the West has criticized Russian authorities for a harsh response to anti-Kremlin demonstrations, protesters in Europe have faced an even tougher police response, with some shot in the eye by what he mockingly called “democratic rubber bullets.”
At a later videoconference with the heads of major international news agencies, Putin said “I don't expect any breakthrough results” from the summit with Biden. The United States and Russia have some corresponding interests, he said, “despite certain disagreements. These disagreements are not the result of Russian actions.”
In response to a question from Associated Press President and Chief Executive Gary Pruitt, Putin returned to the theme of blaming the United States for poor relations.
“We are not taking steps first — I'm talking about the steps that deteriorated our relations. It was not us who introduced sanctions against us, it was the United States who did that on every occasion and even without grounds, just because our country exists,” he said through a translator.
He also criticized the United States as being overconfident and drew a parallel with the Soviet Union.
“You know what the problem is? I will tell you as a former citizen of the former Soviet Union. What is the problem of empires — they think that they are so powerful that they can afford small errors and mistakes," he said. “But the number of problems is growing. There comes a time when they can no longer be dealt with. And the United States, with a confident gait, a firm step, is going straight along the path of the Soviet Union.”
At the earlier session, Putin praised Biden as a “very experienced statesman who has been involved in politics for his entire life ... and a very prudent and careful person. I do hope that our meeting will be positive."
He also took time to deride the allegations that Russian hackers targeted a U.S. pipeline and a meat plant — accusations that have clouded the atmosphere before the summit.
“I do hope that people would realize that there hasn’t been any malicious Russian activity whatsoever,” he said. “I heard something about the meat plant. It's sheer nonsense. We all understand it's just ridiculous. A pipeline? It's equally absurd.”
Putin said "the U.S. special services should track down those ransom seekers. It's certainly not Russia that would extort money from some company. We don't deal with chicken or beef. It's plain ridiculous.”
He alleged the hacking accusations were aired by those who try to “provoke new conflicts before our meeting with Biden,” and added that some in the U.S. doubted Russian involvement in the hacks.
“It means that inside the American society, media and political class, there are people who want to find ways to repair U.S.-Russian relations,” he said.
On other issues, Putin praised his country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and called for a stronger worldwide response to global warming as he sought to bolster Russia's international standing.
Addressing the forum, Putin lauded the efficiency of Russian-designed vaccines and bemoaned what he described as “politically motivated bans” on their purchase in some countries.
Last year, Russia boasted of being the first in the world to authorize a coronavirus vaccine, but it has since moved slowly in giving shots to its population. The slack pace of vaccination has been partly attributed to public skepticism about the vaccines amid controversial signals from the authorities.
Experts have questioned whether Russia will be able to meet the government target of vaccinating more than 30 million of the country’s 146 million people by mid-June, and nearly 69 million by August.
Putin again urged the Russians to move quickly to get the shots, and he invited foreigners to Russia to get vaccinated, saying he would instruct the government to facilitate that.
He also emphasized the need to strengthen the international response to climate change, noting that melting permafrost has posed a major challenge to Russia's Arctic regions.
“We have entire cities built on permafrost,” he said. “What will happen if it all starts melting?”
Putin said pipes have been laid for the first of two lines of the prospective Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, leaving only welding to finalize its construction. He said the second line will follow soon.
The U.S. has strongly opposed construction of the Russian pipeline, but the Biden administration opted last month not to punish the German company overseeing the project while announcing new sanctions against Russian companies and ships. The Kremlin has hailed it as a “positive signal” before the Putin-Biden summit.
The Russian leader hailed the project as more economically feasible than an existing pipeline via Ukraine, rejecting Ukrainian and Western criticism that it's designed to rob Kyiv of transit fees.
Putin said Russia will continue pumping via Ukraine 40 billion cubic meters of gas a year in line with an existing five-year contract, and could continue doing so after it expires if Ukraine shows “goodwill.”
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a tense tug-of-war following Moscow's 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatist insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
Putin deplored what he described as the U.S. use of the dollar as a political weapon, saying that “its use as an instrument of competition and political struggle has hurt its role as the world reserve currency.”
Russia said Thursday it will completely remove the U.S. dollar from its National Wealth Fund and turn the dollar-denominated assets into euros, yuan and gold. Russia long has moved to reduce the dollar’s share in its hard currency reserves as it has faced U.S. sanctions amid tensions with Washington and its allies.
