“ They Started The War”: Putin Delivers Annual Speech To The Nation

In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of deliberately defrauding its citizens. Putin claimed that before Russia’s military campaign in 2022, Kyiv had discussions with the West about the supply of weaponry.

“They started the war, limitless power is the West’s goal,” Putin said. “We defend our interest and position that there should not be a divide between civilized countries and the rest,” he added.

The Russian President gave his customary speech to a sizable group of parliamentarians and government representatives, and all Russian state TV outlets aired it. Putin did not give a speech in 2022, despite the Constitution’s need that he does so, as his army advanced into Ukraine and had numerous setbacks. The speech was given just a few days before February 24, the first anniversary of the war.

“Step by step, carefully and consistently, we will resolve the tasks facing us. Since 2014, the (people of the) Donbas had been fighting, defending their right to live on their land and to speak their native language. They fought and did not give up in the conditions of the blockade and constant shelling, undisguised hatred on the part of the Kyiv regime.

They believed and expected that Russia would come to their rescue. Meanwhile, we did our best to solve this problem by peaceful means. We patiently tried to negotiate a peaceful way out of this most difficult conflict, but a completely different scenario was being prepared behind our backs.”

“We have already begun and will continue to build up a large-scale program for the socio-economic recovery and development of these new subjects of the Federation (territory annexed from Ukraine). We are talking about reviving enterprises and jobs in the ports of the Sea of Azov, which has again become an inland sea of Russia, and building new modern roads, as we did in Crimea,” Putin said.

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Concerns about how soldiers and conscripts are treated were also addressed by Putin.

“We all understand, I realize how terrible it is now for the wives, sons, daughters of slain troops, their parents, who raised worthy defenders of the Fatherland.”

Putin cited a different explanation for the conflict, saying his troops are defending residents in Ukraine’s regions that Moscow has subsequently forcibly annexed.

We are defending life and our house, he declared. And the West aims for unrestricted dominance.

Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and prime minister, Andrei Siluanov, Sergei Lavrov, and Patriarch Kirill were all present for the State of the Union address.