Putin on divorce, FEMEN and Snowden

On Monday, Oct. 7, Russian leader Vladimir Putin turns 61. Reporters have gathered a few of his most interesting quotes from the last year.

On the expulsion of wrestling from the Olympic program, at the Sambo-70 School, March 12, 2013:

“It seems unjustified. The elimination of traditional sports that originally formed the basis of the Olympic Games and were included in the program in the days of Ancient Greece — those sports which started the Olympic Movement.

On the activities of girls from the FEMEN movement, April 2013:

“As for the girls — I missed breakfast this morning. So, if they had shown me a piece of sausage or bacon, it would have pleased me, but the breasts that they were demonstrating did not impress me much.”

On the Internet, Nizhny Tagil, April 28, 2013:

“Well, on the Internet, one doesn’t care what is written on the wall. No one even reads everything that is written on the wall; one’s gaze does not even rest on the wall.”

On his own divorce, during a ballet intermission, June 7, 2013:

“All my work, all my activity is associated with public life — with absolute public life. However, there are people who are completely incompatible with this. So, Lyudmila Alexandrovna has been scrutinized for eight years now, even nine, nine years. So, I can say this is a mutual decision.”

On former CIA officer Edward Snowden, in an interview with Channel One and Associated Press, September 4, 2013:

“... I sometimes think of him; he's a weird guy. He’s a young man in his thirties. I have no idea what’s on his mind. What is he going to do in his future life?”

Virtual museum of presidential gifts to go online

On Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, at his inauguration, September 12, 2013:

“He is not a Robespierre: He doesn’t love to and cannot speak from the podium.”

On homosexuality and Silvio Berlusconi’s women, at the Valdai International Discussion Club meeting, September 2013:

“Berlusconi is denounced for living with women. If he were a homosexual, they wouldn’t say a word to him.”

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