I think back a little bit when President Bush was elected President and what kind of economy he inherited from the Clinton administration. The economy was going down. It was not doing well.
Probably the most useful thing I can do as secretary of state is to assist the president in adapting and renewing the transnational institutions that were created after World War II.
As for the President-elect [Donald Trump], he has his own views on things, and this is also fairly natural.
I have called President Obama, and President Obama called me on various issues. This is part of our regular contacts, there is nothing unusual or extraordinary about it.
It is well known, widely known that the US President-elect [Donald Trump] has publicly spoken in favour of normalising Russian-American relations. We cannot but support this. Of course, we understand that it will not be an easy job, taking into account the degree to which Russian-American relations have degraded. But we are ready to cover our part of the way.
In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the issues of foreign policy and defense are fully in the hands of the president.
I believe that the presidential term should be limited.
Look, there is parliamentary democracy in most European countries, there is parliamentary democracy in Japan, there is parliamentary democracy in many countries, but in the United States, for some reason, the State is organized differently, there is quite a stringent presidential republic.
We have good personal relationship with President Obama, our relations are quite frank and business-like. And this is quite enough to do our job.
President Obama and I can meet, shake hands and discuss current issues, we - and I am personally - are always ready for such contacts.
In 2009, US President [Barack] Obama said that the missile defense only serves as protection from Iranian nuclear missiles. But now there is an international treaty with Iran that bans Tehran from developing a potential military nuclear project.
I do not think I am entitled to assess the President of the United States. This is up to the American people.
It is a fact that the US defence budget is larger than the defence budgets of all other countries taken together. This is why I understand the US President when he says that his NATO allies should take over part of this burden. It is a pragmatic and understandable approach.
So, I mean to say, as for those who are proving their allegiance with what I would call sickening perseverance, and who are urging the president to brush away the constitution, those I would like to remind of a Russian proverb: "Don't spit into the well, it'll come in handy once you're thirsty.
I don't care at all. I don't know the difference from one president to the next.
Mr. Obama at the UN said that the large nations should not trample small ones in pursuit of what he called "territorial ambition". These are curious statements coming from the American president at this time.
I don't recall an American president basically coming out and criticizing the Israeli public.
In 2016 we are faced with a particularly bizarre and unappetizing choice as regards the two main political parties' presidential candidates, in my opinion.
I don't think you get to be pope without making some enemies, like you do when you're president.
All other things being equal, a bald man cannot be elected President of the United States.
President Barack Obama started by accepting the military's counterinsurgency, but came out of Afghanistan having decided that counterinsurgency actually doesn't work.
The whole issue of healthcare is very complicated. There have been seven Presidents who've tried to get healthcare reform passed.
The last six months of the Bush administration lost four million jobs and the first six months of the Obama administration lost another four million before any initiatives of the president could take action.
I personally think President [Hosni] Mubarak, who's done a lot for Egypt, should acknowledge that his time has come and step down right away.
President Murabak has been a U.S. ally for decades. He was a guarantor of some degree of peace in the Middle East and has kept a good relationship with the Western world.
