Quote:West should stop turning world into ‘global barracks’
Putin said it was high time for the US and Western Europe to give up their political ambitions and start building mutually beneficial relations with the rest of the world.

Quote:‘Ukrainian president fully responsible for violence’
A significant part of Putin’s speech was dedicated to the events in crisis-hit Ukraine, where President Petro Poroshenko decided to not prolong the ceasefire with the rebellious Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

“So far, Petro Poroshenko had no direct relation to the orders to take military action. Now he has taken on this responsibility in full. Not only military, but also political, which is more important.”

Putin repeated that Russia won’t interfere into Ukraine, but stressed Moscow’s readiness to help those fleeing the battlefield.

“Everything that happens in Ukraine is, of course, the internal affair of the Ukrainian state, but we feel painfully sorry that the people, the civilians, are dying. You know that there are a growing number of refugees arriving in the Russian Federation and we’ll certainly assist all those in need.”

‘We mustn’t sacrifice our vital interests just to be allowed to sit next to someone’

Russia has no interest in participating in formats for international relations where it’s only allowed “to play the role of an observer, with no final say on key issues,” Putin said.

Quote:Kerry threatens Iran with ‘tightened sanctions’

Quote:US Secretary of State John Kerry has threatened Iran with tightened sanctions and deepened isolation as he says time is running out for a “comprehensive” nuclear agreement with Iran.

In an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on Monday, Kerry said failure to reach a comprehensive agreement over Iran’s nuclear energy program could not be blamed on the “excessive demands on our part” but on Iran because Tehran has to “back up its words with concrete and verifiable actions.”

Iran has always emphasized that its nuclear energy program is geared to civilian purposes only. The International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear energy program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.