Cezary Grabarczyk

### Shimon Peres to Vladimir Putin: “I said to him: ‘You are 63 years old, and I am 93. Tell me, what do you want to achieve over the next 30 years? What are you fighting for? Are you hoping to irritate America?’ He replied: — No. — Does America want to take part of Russia? — No. — Do you have problems with Obama because of some misunderstanding? He asked: — Why are you asking me this? I said: — Listen, I am not a spy. You can talk to me about anything. He asked: — And what do you think? I replied: — America will win, no matter what you do. — Why? — he asked. — Because they are happy, and you are not. And I continued: When an American wakes up in the morning, what does he see? To the south, Mexico — and Mexicans are welcomed into his country. To the north, Canada, his best friend in the world. And to the east and west, fish swimming in the water. What does Obama have to worry about? And you? Who do you see around you when you wake up in the morning? Japan, China, Afghanistan? My God! They know you have an enormous territory, yet you give them nothing. You possess 20 percent of the world's freshwater reserves, but you share nothing with others. And when the snow in Siberia melts, the first people you will see there will be the Chinese. After all, there are many Chinese in the east and very few Russians. The second thing I told him was this: America has the best ratio of land area to population in the world. You have the worst. Twenty million square kilometers! My God! But you don't have enough people to develop that territory. Your people are dying. Do not be seduced by applause or by what people tell you. They will never forgive you for this. Why do Russians live, on average, only 62 years, while Americans live to 82? And then I told him: — You behave like a tsar. What did the tsars do? They built two cities — St. Petersburg and Moscow — as showcases. You can find anything you want there. But the rest of Russia is Nigeria covered in snow. Your people are dying. You are not giving them the opportunity to live with dignity. Do you really think they will forgive you? — Why is America great? — he asked. — Because America gives. And why does Europe have problems? Because Europe takes. America gives. People think Americans do this because they are generous. I believe they do it because they are wise. When you give, you make friends. The most valuable investment you can ever make is an investment in friendship. America had the courage to implement the Marshall Plan. It devoted an enormous share of its GDP to helping Europe, which was lying in ruins at the time. And by doing so, America proved that such assistance is one of the best investments in the world. There was not a single European country that had not been an empire. The French, the British, the Portuguese — they all had colonies. And what happened? They were driven out and left with nothing. Britain was the greatest empire, the empire on which the sun never set. It controlled all the oceans. But even the nonviolent resistance of the Indian people forced Britain to leave, reducing it to just three small islands that it now doesn't know what to do with. Believe me,’ I told Putin, ‘enemies and hostility are the greatest losses in life. You are investing in stupidity.’” — Attributed to Shimon Peres, former President of Israel, recounting a conversation with Vladimir Putin.