President Putin: West Aims to Turn Ukraine Conflict Into Global Confrontation
15:48 21.02.2023 (Updated: 19:05 21.02.2023)
© Sputnik / Pavel Bednyakov
/ Subscribe
On Tuesday, 21 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin deliver a regular address to the Federal Assembly, which was moslty devoted to assessing the causes and inevitability of the special military operation in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that his address to the country's Federal Assembly was taking place at a difficult and milestone time for Russia, at a time of radical changes throughout the world.
"I am speaking at a difficult time, we all know it well, a milestone time for our country, at a time of radical, irreversible changes throughout the world, the most important historical events that determine the future of our country and our people, when the enormous responsibility lies with each of us," the president said in his address to Russia's Federal Assembly.
West Was Preparing Ukraine for Big Conflict For Long Time: Putin
Western countries had been preparing Ukraine for a big war long before the start of Moscow's military operation there and admit that today "without restraint," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The US and NATO rapidly established their military bases and secret biological laboratories near the borders of our country. They were learning to act on the theater of future military operations during maneuvers, preparing the Kiev regime, which is controlled by them, Ukraine, which they had enslaved, for a big war, and they admit it today. They publicly admit this without restraint," Putin said.
The West has unleashed the war in Ukraine, and Russia has been using force to stop it, Putin colcluded.
Russia is firmly pursuing not only its own interests, the president noted, adding that the world needs an "honest partnership" and should not be divided into the so-called "civilized" countries and the rest, the Russian leader said.
Russia Did Everything Possible to Peacefully Resolve Situation in Donbass
Russia did everything it could to resolve the situation in Donbas by peaceful means, but a different scenario was prepared by other countries, Putin said.
"We did everything we could, really everything, to solve this problem by peaceful means. We patiently held negotiations on a peaceful way out of this extremely tough conflict. But a very different scenario was prepared behind our backs," the Russian leader explaned.
West's promises regarding its desire to bring peace to the region of Donbas have turned out to be "a forgery, a cruel lie, thus, they have become "a symbol of total unprincipled lies, Putin concluded.
The Russian Fleadership repeatedly reminded the West that there was a coup d'etat at Maidan in Kiev in 2014, deposing the elected President Yanukovich, which paved the road to Kiev-led violence against Russian-speaking population in Donbass. Likewise, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that 'the West shrugged and watched in silence' as members of the coup bombed Donbass, a primarily Russian-speaking region.
"In December 2021, we officially sent to the United States and NATO draft agreements on security guarantees, but on our all key, fundamental positions for us, we received, in fact, a direct refusal. Then it finally became clear that the go-ahead for the implementation of aggressive plans was given, and they were not going to stop. The threat was growing," Putin said during his address to the Federal Assembly.
In September 2022, Donbass, the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions overwhelmingly voted during referenda to become part of Russia.
On West's anti-Russia Rroject
Putin also stated that the West had been trying to accelerate the process of turning Ukraine into "anti-Russia" since 2014, indoctrinating Kiev with Russophobia and aggressive nationalism.
"People who used to dive into history for a little bit know well that this project ['anti-Russia'] dates back to the 19th century. It was nurtured in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in Poland and other countries for a single purpose, which is to strip our country of historic territories that are called Ukraine today," the president added.
On Failure of Western Sanctions and Dedollarisation
The West had tried to destabilize the Russian society from within but failed, Putin said, adding that Russia, in fact, does not reduce payments in dollars — the West is doing it on its own.
The Russian economy turned out to be more resilient that the West believes when introducing sanctions, the Russian leader further stated. As a result, those who initiated sanctions against Russia are punishing themselves, they spurred inflation in their home countries, but blame Russia for that, he added.
Russia has doubled the share of payments in Rubles in trade — now it makes up the third of all payments, and more than a half — given the currencies of friendly nations, Putin stated.
"We will continue to work together with out partners on the formation of a stable, secure system of international payments, independent of the US dollar and other Western reserve currencies, which, with such a policy of Western elites, Western rulers, will inevitably lose their universal character", President Putin added.
Russia knows how to be friends and keep its word, it will not let anyone down and will always offer support in a difficult situation, as it helped Western countries during the pandemic, President Putin said.
