Putin Says West Demonstrates Political Bias, Russophobia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The West is demonstrating bias and Russophobia, while the process of degradation of international politics continues, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"December 10 marks the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately, we are celebrating this anniversary in a difficult situation, when the process of degradation of the international system of ensuring and promoting human rights continues. Its institutions, which are actually controlled by the West, demonstrate political bias, hypocrisy and undisguised selectivity," Putin said during a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.

At the same time, Putin noted that Russia's withdrawal from a number of international human rights institutions does not mean that it is ignoring human rights, on the contrary, Moscow is ready to cooperate to build an equal and fair system of ensuring human rights.

"As you know, Russia has withdrawn from a number of international human rights organizations. However, this does not mean that we abandon the principles laid down in the declaration [Universal Declaration of Human Rights]. On the contrary, we are ready to cooperate with all interested countries and partners, to find solutions for the formation of an effective, fair, equal system for ensuring human rights for all," Putin said.

Civil institutions, due to their flexibility, are more adapted to a prompt search for possible solutions in this area, Putin said.

Russia Should Ensure Rights of Migrants, But Put Interests of Russians First

Russia should ensure the rights of migrants, but put the interests of Russians first, President Vladimir Putin said.

"This is a large range of issues, and it is very important that the interests of the Russian citizens are put first in all areas, we must consider these issues in a complex," he said during the meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.

Maintaining the ethno-cultural balance is important in the situation with migrants in Russia, the president added.

"There is a very acute issue about the rights of migrants, this is understandable. Here I cannot but agree that an ethno-cultural balance must be maintained. Of course, everything that happens in this area is primarily dictated by the interests of the economy — the shortage of workers. But it is necessary, of course, to prepare these people. We need to attract such labor resources that meet the interests of the Russian economy," Putin said.