Putin’s anti-Western speech: "They started the war and we're using force to stop it"
State of the Nation annual speech
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annual State of the Nation speech on February 21st that, not surprisingly, was focused on justifying the invasion in Ukraine and blaming the West for it.
“A Nazi threat led to the special operation”
One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin repeated the unfounded assertion that Russia was facing a Nazi threat, along with "constant hatred" from the Kyiv government, which led to his so-called “special operation”.
“Ukraine was waiting for Russia’s help”
The Russian leader went so far as to say that Ukraine “was waiting for Russia to come to their assistance”.
“Russia tried to peacefully settle the conflict in Donbas”
Furthermore, he claimed that Russia tried to settle the conflict in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region by peaceful means.
“Kyiv was trying to gather nuclear weapons”
Putin also said the West's commitment to peace turned out to be "fraud", and a "cruel lie" and claimed, without evidence, that Kyiv was trying to gather biological and nuclear weapons.
“We were doing everything possible to solve this conflict peacefully”
"We were doing everything possible to solve this problem peacefully, negotiating a way out, but behind our backs a very different scenario was being prepared”, he said.
“Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies”
"Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies," he said, accusing the West of withdrawing from "fundamental agreements" and giving "hypocritical statements" as well as expanding the Nato defence alliance.
“The West is culpable for the war”
"I want to repeat”, Putin said “It is them (the West) who are culpable for the war, and we are using force to stop it," he said to great applause.
“The West disguises with slogans of freedom”
"Human sacrifice and tragedies are not accounted by them... They must carry on stealing from everyone, disguising themselves with slogans of democracy and freedom."
“The West opened the way for Nazis in the 1930’s”
As he continued on this theme, Putin accused the West of "opening the way" for Nazis to take power in the 1930s, and said that since the 19th century the West has tried to tear away Russia's "historical lands": "what is now called Ukraine", he said.
“The West funded the 2014 revolution that gave rise to Russophobia”
"Everything repeats itself", Putin said, adding that the West funded the 2014 revolution in Ukraine that overthrew a pro-Russian government. He claimed this "gave rise to Russophobia, extreme nationalism".
“Family means a union between a man and a woman”
Putin then moved on to LGBT rights, a common topic in his speeches. "Family means a union between a man and a woman," he said, adding that "so say the sacred texts of every religion on Earth".
“We have to protect our children from degeneration”
“They’re going mad and it’s incurable”, Putin said about LGBT rights in the West. “We have to protect our children from degradation and degeneration" he said, getting an ovation.
“The West is waging an economic war”
He then went on to blame the West again, not only for fueling the conflict with Ukraine, but also for waging an “economic war”, referring to the sanctions imposed on Russia by various countries.
“I will build a system to reduce economic dependence on the West”
He added that he wants to build a safe system of international payments that will reduce dependence on the West.
Old ideas presented in a “far more radical form”
Overall, Putin’s speech was full of “old ideas, but presented in a far more radical form”, as Russian political analyst and top Kremlin watcher Tatiana Stanovaya pointed out, the BBC reported.
Russia will halt its participation in nuclear arms treaty
A novelty, however, was that Putin said Russia will halt its participation in New Start, the last major remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the US.
Suspension of the treaty is not the same as withdrawal
However, “suspension of the treaty is not equal to withdrawal but in reality, it could become really close over time,” according to Andrey Baklitskiy, researcher in the weapons of mass destruction programme at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research.
What withdrawal would mean
Withdrawing from New Start would theoretically allow Russia to end compliance with limits of deployed nuclear weapons.
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