Putin says he keenly realizes responsibility to country, people
MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - Vladimir Putin, who officially took office as Russian president on Monday, said he acknowledges his responsibility to the country and its people.
"In taking office as president of Russia, I particularly keenly realize my colossal responsibility before each of you, before our entire multiethnic nation, responsibility before Russia, a country of great victories and achievements, before the thousand-year history of Russian statehood and our ancestors. Their courage, incessant work, indomitable unity, and solumn attitude toward their native soil are an eternal example of loyalty to one's homeland," Putin said at his inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin on Monday.
"I see it as my duty and the very purpose of my entire life to do everything I can for Russia, for its present and its peaceful and prosperous future, for the preservation and continuation of our great nation, for the well-being of every Russian family," he said.