President Putin

The Kiev Putsch: The struggle in the Ukraine is not between the US and Russia, it is between a NATO-imposed junta composed of neo-liberal oligarchs and fascists on one side and the industrial workers and their local militias and democratic councils on the other.  The former defends and obeys the IMF and Washington; the latter relies on the productive capacity of local industry and rules by responding to the majority. What is clear is that the power grab in Kiev will not result in a ‘knife pointed at the heartland of Russia’

President al-Assad: Syria will never become a western puppet state, we will fight terrorism and freely build relationships that best serve the interests of the Syrians