...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...has told Moldova that it must take account of Russia's interests before developing closer trade ties with the EU.
Mr Putin was speaking at a summit in Belarus with leaders of ex-Soviet republics, including Moldova.
He said he wanted Moldova to postpone a free trade deal with the EU until 2016, as Ukraine had agreed to do recently.
Russia supports separatists in Trans-Dniester, a long strip of land that broke away from Moldova in 1992.
The pro-Russian separatists are heavily armed and the fighting in eastern Ukraine has raised concern that the frozen conflict in Moldova could similarly reignite.
The EU and US accuse Russia of sending troops and armour into eastern Ukraine to help the rebels there. Russia has repeatedly denied doing so.
Mr Putin warned that economic integration between some ex-Soviet republics and the EU could undermine their preferential trade ties with Russia. He is pushing for a Russian-led Eurasian economic union.
Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries and has particularly close economic and cultural ties with neighbouring Romania, an EU member.