Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for beginning the battle in Ukraine and claimed Russia responded with power “in order to stop it”.
In a speech describing his goals as the primary anniversary of the battle nears, the Russian president mentioned Ukraine was in talks with the West about weapons earlier than Russia invaded its neighbour on 24 February final yr.
Putin admits ‘very tough time for Russia’ – Ukraine battle newest
Mr Putin additionally introduced that Russia was suspending its participation in a key nuclear treaty with the US which limits the 2 sides’ strategic nuclear arsenals.
“I would like to repeat, they started the war and we used force in order to stop it,” he mentioned in his state of the nation handle on Tuesday.
The Russian chief mentioned Kyiv held talks with the West about weapons provides earlier than the “special military operation”, as Moscow calls it, started.
‘Playing a grimy recreation’
“I would like to emphasise when Russia tried to find a peaceful solution they were playing with the lives of people and they were playing a dirty game,” he mentioned.
Mr Putin mentioned Russia determined to “protect its people and history” by conducting a “special military operation step-by-step” – as he warned that Moscow will “continue to resolve the objectives that are before us”.
His speech got here a day after US President Joe Biden made his first go to to Ukraine for the reason that Russian invasion, as Washington pledged $500m value of navy help to Kyiv.
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Mr Putin introduced that Russia was suspending its participation within the New START treaty with the US, which caps the variety of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can deploy.
Russia has the most important stockpile of nuclear weapons on this planet, with shut to six,000 warheads, in keeping with specialists.
Mr Putin mentioned Russia was not absolutely withdrawing from the treaty and mentioned Moscow should stand able to resume nuclear weapons checks if the US does so.
West ‘launched genie from the bottle’
The Russian president took purpose on the West and mentioned they “released the genie from the bottle” within the 10 years previous to the battle, by beginning others.
He claimed Western nations have been portray Russia as an enemy of the state to divert consideration from the corruption and socio-economic issues in their very own nations.
On weapons, Mr Putin additionally claimed the West was “in negotiations” over the “supply of heavy military equipment and planes and anti-aircraft missile systems” earlier than the operation started.
While Russian forces have suffered three main battlefield reversals for the reason that battle started, it nonetheless controls round one-fifth of Ukraine.
In his wide-ranging speech, the Russian president additionally claimed thousands and thousands of individuals within the West are being “led to a real spiritual catastrophe”, as he criticised the “Anglican Church’s plan to consider the idea of a gender-neutral God”.
West ‘punishment themselves with sanctions’
The Russian president accused the West of collapsing its personal power sectors by sanctioning Russian-linked corporations and people.
“All sanctions are just a means, but the objective is to force our citizens to suffer – this is their humanistic approach,” he mentioned.
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He added that they’ve “not been successful” and that the federal government has spent 3bn roubles on measures to stabilise the Russian economic system.
On Monday, Mr Biden added that alongside extra navy help for Ukraine, the US would announce extra sanctions in opposition to Russian elites.
Mr Biden mentioned the Russian president was “dead wrong” to assume the West’s help for Ukraine wouldn’t final as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the talks as “fruitful”.
Source: information.sky.com”