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Russia has no “imperialist ambitions” and does not intend to “interfere in the sovereignty” of its neighbours from the former Soviet Union, said today Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, quoted by Russian agencies.

“We do not have and we will not have any of the imperialist ambitions that the accused,” said Putin during discussions of the club of reflection Valdai, the Kremlin, in Sochi in southern Russia.

“Russia took the initiative by the end of the USSR. If Russia had not adopted that position, the USSR still existed. We took this decision long ago, and we have no jealousy and no reason for intrometermos the sovereignty of the former republics of the USSR, “he added.

“We do not have any ideological divergence, no reason for a ‘cold war’,” he said. “On the contrary, we have many common problems, we can not solve efficiently if not through joint efforts,” estimated.

Vladimir Putin makes these statements on the day the President of South Ossetia, Edouard Kokoity, said the intention of not wanting to be part of the Russian federation, after some Russian agencies have indicated, earlier today, which would Kokoity said he wanted his country as a member of the Federation.

“I was obviously misunderstood. We do not intend to give up our independence, achieved through huge sacrifices and South Ossetia has no intention of entering the Russian Federation,” Kokoity said to Interfax.

Earlier today, Edouard Kokoity was quoted by Russian press agencies, two, Interfax and Ria Novosti, saying the opposite. “Yes, without any doubt, we will part of Russia and not our intention to create any independent Ossetia, because the history well established things, our ancestors made the choice,” said Kokoity.

For its part, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, also confirmed today in Warsaw that the separatist region of South Ossetia has no intention of entering the Russian Federation.

Modernization of arms is “high priority” of Russia, said Medvedev

The Russian President, Dmitri Medvedev, said today in turn about the crisis in the Caucasus that the modernization of Russian arms has become a “high priority” for Moscow’s threat to Georgians, quoted by agencies Interfax and Itar-Tass.

“We should focus on issues of renewal of military equipment,” Medvedev said during a meeting in the Kremlin. “This has become an objective that I have just set as high priority of state,” he added.

“This decision was without any doubt influenced by the crisis in the Caucasus, the aggression of Georgia and its continued militarization,” Medvedev continued.

The President stressed that the renewal of military equipment would be made “in stages, with care, from the problems that have arisen in recent times.”

The Russian president last Saturday accused the U.S. of having “rearmado” in Georgia under the guise of humanitarian assistance operations.

“Russia is a state with which we need from now on,” sentenced the head of state. “The world has changed after the day on August 8 this year”, he continued, alluding to the conflict between Moscow and Tbiliss on the territory of South Ossetia, but that pro-Russia officially part of Georgia.