Russia’s President Vladimir Putin mentioned in his speech to the Federal Assembly on Tuesday, the 21st of February, that he promises to «systematically» continue Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.
«Step by step we will carefully and systematically complete the tasks we face,» said Putin in his pre-anniversary speech.
«I am speaking to you in a difficult and important time for our country, a time when deep changes are brewing for the entire world,» Putin told the top officials and political elite of the Russian Federation. He said «the historic events will determine our country’s future, […] all of us are tied by enormous responsibility».
He once again mentioned the claims that Russia faces threats from Nazis, as well as «constant threats and hate» from Kyiv. Ukraine was waiting for Russia to come and help them, Putin said.
«Ukraine and Donbas have become symbols of total lies,» said Putin, accusing the West of exiting from «fundamental treaties» and making «hypocritical statements».
«I would like to repeat: they are the ones responsible for the war, and we used force to end it,» said Putin.
He also claimed that Russia attempted to resolve the conflict in Donbas using peaceful means. Putin said the West’s collective commitment to ensure peace was «deceit» and «lies», he also claimed that Kyiv made attempts to acquire biological and nuclear arms.
«We did all we could to resolve this problem peacefully and find a solution through peace talks, but a completely different scenario was put together behind out backs,» said Putin. «They were wasting time, ignoring political assassinations and abuse of believers.»
The more long-range attack systems are delivered to Ukraine by the West, the further away from Russia’s borders we will push the threats away, said the Russian president.
«It is only natural,» he said, adding that the West are using Ukraine both as a ram against Russia and as an arms testing grounds. «Western elites do not hide their goals – dealing a strategic defeat to Russia. This means putting an end to us once and for all,» said Putin.
He also said the Western sanctions, the objective of which was to make Russian residents «suffer», have failed, adding that the proportion of Russian rouble in international deals has «doubled». Putin also said multiple sectors of the Russian economy have grown over the past year and that unemployment has gone down.
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