President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday relations between Russia and China have developed to an all-time high and they will play a significant role on the global political stage.
"It will significantly influence the modern architecture of international relations," Putin said, but added that they were "not considering the question of a military-political alliance."
On the issue of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said
Ukraine's decision to send armed forces into eastern Ukraine instead of trying to establish a dialogue with the Russian-speaking population there was a "grave crime."
In a televised call-in with the nation, Putin said crisis talks being held in Geneva were "very important" and urged the government in Kiev to sit down to talks with Russian-speaking communities in the east of the country.
The Russian president did not rule out sending Russian troops into eastern Ukraine but said he hoped he would not need to and that diplomacy would serve to resolve the crisis there.
Putin said he was certain that Russia and Ukraine could reach a compromise following Moscow's annexation of Crimea, saying the neighbors had a huge number of common interests.
He noted that Ukraine's government needs to provide guarantees to its Russian-speaking population in the east of the country to resolve the crisis.
"The compromise must be found not between third party players but between the different political forces within Ukraine itself," he said. "This is extremely important, it is the key issue."
However, Putin said Russian forces had been active in Crimea in order to support local defense forces, the first time he has admitted deployment of Russian troops on the Black Sea peninsula.
He added that Russia had been forced to respond to NATO enlargement and that its annexation of Crimea, home to its Black Sea Fleet, was partly influenced by the Western military alliance's expansion into eastern Europe.
"When the infrastructure of a military bloc is moving toward our borders, it causes us some concerns and questions. We need to take some steps in response," Putin said in a televised call-in with the nation.
"Our decision on Crimea was partly due to ... considerations that if we do nothing, then at some point, guided by the same principles, NATO will drag Ukraine in and they will say: 'It doesn't have anything to do with you.'”
Putin said Ukraine's Berkut riot police, a force disbanded by authorities in Kiev after being blamed for the deaths of protesters, had served honorably in the line of duty.
Answering a question from a former Berkut officer in televised call-in, Putin told him "there is no doubt you and your colleagues ... professionally and honorably carried out your duty."
He said the decision to disband the force after deadly clashes during protests that ousted President Viktor Yanukovich would "backfire for the Ukrainian state because you cannot humiliate fighters and make kneel fighters who are defending the interests of the state."
Regarding the gas issue, Putin stressed that it would not be possible for Europe to stop buying Russian gas and that he was hopeful a deal could be reached with Ukraine on gas supply.
"We sell gas in European countries which have around 30-35 percent of their gas balance covered by supplies from Russia. Can they stop buying Russian gas? In my opinion it is impossible," he said.
Putin said that transit via Ukraine is the most dangerous element in Europe's gas supply system.
Commenting on Ukraine’s election campaign, Putin noted that the presidential election campaign was being conducted in an unacceptable manner and Russia would not view its results as legitimate if the race continued in the same manner.
"The presidential race is being run in an absolutely unacceptable way...If everything continues in this way, then of course we cannot recognize as legitimate what is happening and what will happen after May 25," he said in a televised call-in with the nation, referring to the date of the vote.
On the financial level, the Russian president noted that the country would speed up the process of switching Crimea's banking system to the ruble, pointing out that it would take about a month to create a network and open up the needed number of accounts.
As for the relation with the United States, President Putin said that trust between Russia and the US was lost before the crisis in Ukraine but that he wants to restore their cooperation.
To achieve that, Putin said, the United States should respect others' interests and respect international law.
"To a certain extent trust has been lost, but we do not think we are to blame," he said in a televised call-in with the nation. "The United States can act in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya but Russia is not allowed to defend its interests."
Putin also told Edward Snowden on that Russia does not carry out indiscriminate surveillance on its citizens, responding to a question the former U.S. spy agency contractor in a televised question and answer session with the nation.
The government regulates communications as part of criminal investigations, but "on a massive scale, on an uncontrolled scale we certainly do not allow this and I hope we will never allow it," Putin told Snowden, who was granted asylum in Russia last year.
REUTERS