President Putin: Russia will defend its national interests in different regions

Russia will defend its national interests in different regions, including the Caspian Sea region. Russia's President Vladimir Putin made this statement in an answer to questions of Beijing State University students.

Russia has both political and economic interests in the Caspian region, the President pointed out. Since this region is rich in energy resources like oil, Russia's interests in this region can coincide with the ones of the USA, Vladimir Putin said.

"Configuration of interests in the world's energy sphere is changing", given the unstable Mideastern situation, the President pointed out. Today's world economy is interested in stable energy supplies from new regions, the Russian head of state said.

Some of these regions are Russia, the Far East and the Caspian Sea region, according to Putin. "There is a room for everyone here, we should only come to agreements," Putin said. Russia intends to do so and hopes "our partners will follow suit," the President stressed.

Although the USA is one of Russia's major economic partners and "a rather efficient" partner in terms of the anti-terrorist coalition, "our standpoints on key issues sometimes differ," Putin stressed.

The President pointed out that "it was completely counterproductive to embark on a confrontation course", but stressed that "Russia will defend its national interests on controversial issues".