In a state of the nation address, the Russian president promises a response to the conflict turning into a global confrontation and suspends the country’s participation in the latest nuclear treaty still in force, as promised by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (21/04 ) to go ahead with the war in Ukraine and blamed the West for the conflict, which turns one year old on Feb. 24.
In his much-anticipated state of the nation address, Putin told the country’s political and military elite that Russia had done everything possible to avoid war, but that Western-backed Ukraine was planning to attack the annexed Crimea illegally from Moscow in 2014.
“The Ukrainian people have become hostages of the Kiev regime and its Western masters, who have occupied the country in a political, military and economic sense,” Putin said. “Western elites are trying to hide their goals of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia. They intend to turn the local conflict into a global confrontation. This is how we understand it and we will react accordingly,” he continued.
Once again, the Russian leader repeated the narrative that a neo-Nazi regime is in power in Ukraine and said that the “special military operation,” as Moscow calls the war, would continue.
“Step by step, with caution and consistency, we will solve the tasks ahead of us,” he said.
Putin said defeating Russia is impossible. “Let one thing be clear to everyone: the greater the range of weapons supplied to Ukraine, the more we will be forced to remove the threat from our borders.”
Putin blames Western elites
In his speech, Putin again blamed Ukraine for the war. “The responsibility for the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the increase in the number of victims lies entirely with the Western elites and, of course, with the current regime in Kiev,” he stressed.
Moscow will never give in to Western attempts to divide Russian society, he said, saying the majority of the country’s population supports the war.
Speaking about the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions last year, the president received a standing ovation at the Gostiny Dvor exhibition center, a few meters from the Kremlin.
He asked the audience, which included lawmakers, soldiers, intelligence chiefs and presidents of state corporations, to stand in honor of those who have lost their lives in the ongoing conflict.
The war in Ukraine is the biggest gamble by a Kremlin leader since at least the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Russian forces have suffered three major battlefield setbacks since the conflict began, but still control about a fifth of the neighboring country. Tens of thousands were killed.
Putin says Russia is in an existential battle with the West, which, according to the president, intends to steal Russia’s natural resources.
The West and Ukraine reject such a narrative, pointing out that the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) does not justify Russia’s imperialist adventure.
Promises to the Russian military
Putin also announced a modernization of the country’s armed forces. “Russia’s nuclear deterrence equipment level with the latest systems is now 91.3%. Taking into account our accumulated experience, we need to achieve this level of quality in all parts of the armed forces.”
The president also promised military personnel fighting in Ukraine two weeks off every six months and said every fighter should have the opportunity to visit family and friends. He also proposed the creation of a fund to provide aid to war veterans and the families of the fallen.
This was Putin’s 18th state of the nation address. The latest was in April 2021. The president said the traditional speech did not take place last year due to the “dynamic of events”.
nuclear threat
Putin has suspended the country’s participation in the latest nuclear disarmament treaty still in force between Moscow and Washington, the New Start. Signed in 2010, the agreement limits the number of nuclear weapons that Russia and the United States can possess. Putin even threatened to carry out nuclear tests if the US did it first.
According to experts, Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world, with around 6,000. Together, Moscow and the United States own about 90% of existing warheads, enough to destroy the planet several times.
This news is being updated…
lf/cn (Reuters, DPA, Efe, AP)
Source: Terra
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