Putin accuses the west of ‘Russophobia’ in latest speech

The annexation of four Ukrainian districts by the Russian government was presented on Friday by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a bombastic demonstration of his willingness to escalate the conflict in Ukraine, which is now in its eighth month.

Putin’s furious address, which he gave just before signing the agreements for the annexation of the Ukrainian territories to Russia, contained some of his most scathing criticisms of the West to date. He charged that the United States and its allies were attempting to subjugate Russia and enslave its people, and he pledged to defend the nation with “all means available,” an obvious allusion to its nuclear arsenals.

“They want to see us as a colony,” Putin said. “They don’t want equal cooperation, they want to rob us. They want to see us not as a free society, but a crowd of soulless slaves.”

In the sumptuous white and gold St. George’s Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, Putin gave a televised address that was frequently cut short by applause from an obedient crowd of top government officials and legislators.

Putin shook hands in unison with the four presidents of the regions after they had signed the accession treaties with Moscow’s support. That surprised everyone since the 69-year-old Russian leader has kept most of his counterparts at a distance ever since the coronavirus outbreak began.

In a broad assault on the U.S. and its Western allies, Putin denounced their history of exploitation of indigenous people and cultures, slavery, and other practices that he called “running contrary to human nature, truth, freedom, and justice.”

Putin criticized the United States for using carpet bombs in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. The U.S. was the only nation to deploy nuclear bombs, dropping them on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the last days of World War II, he emphasized.

According to some commentators, Putin’s statement that he was prepared to employ “all means” to stop Ukraine from continuing its counteroffensive was buried in the phrase, “They created a precedent, by the way,” which he added.

According to Putin, “The West has continued to look for a way to strike us, weaken us, and break up Russia.” They “simply can’t accept the existence of such a large, great nation with all its territory, natural riches, mineral resources, and the people who can’t and won’t do as others dictate.”

In a direct declaration, Putin also said that the “Anglo Saxons” — a phrase used by Russian authorities to refer to the U.S. and Britain — had sabotaged the country’s construction of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which run beneath the Baltic Sea and into Germany.

He made no mention of a specific nation and provided no evidence to support his claims. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden dismissed Putin’s pipeline assertion on Friday as “disinformation” meant to draw attention away from his takeover of portions of Ukraine.

Putin called the U.S. effort to establish a global order based on rules a disingenuous cover for the “U.S. diktat based on crude force.”

They claim that the West preserves a system of rules, but whence do these norms originate? said Putin. “Those are outlandish ravings and outright cheating, double- or triple-standards designed for fools. Russia is a wonderful nation with a long history and a complete civilisation, and it will not adhere to those fabricated false norms.

He said that the U.S. military presence in Germany, Japan, and South Korea essentially amounts to their “occupation” and reminded the audience that the U.S. had eavesdropped on their leaders, calling it a “shame not only for those who did it but also for those who slavishly swallowed that.”

Putin attacked Western gender policies, calling them “satanic,” as part of his broadsides against the West. Citing the Bible, he said that “those poisonous fruits have become visible, not only to people in Russia, but also to many in the West.” The Russian president accused the West of using racism and discrimination in its attempts to limit Russia, saying that “the Russophobia articulated today across the entire world is nothing but racism.”

“Russia realizes its responsibility before the global community and will do everything to bring those hot heads to their senses,” Putin said. “It’s obvious that the current neo-colonial model is doomed.”

He described the showdown with the West over Ukraine as a “battlefield where our destiny and history have called us” to fight for the “great historic Russia, for future generations, for our children and grandchildren.” The Russian president showed his scorn and disdain for Ukrainian sovereignty by describing his decision to annex the four regions of Ukraine as the restoration of historic justice.

The West claims that this week’s “referendums” in four regions of Ukraine were completely illegitimate and were held while Russia was occupying the country. Putin asserted that these “referendums” represented an “inalienable right of the people based on historic unity, the sake for which generations of our ancestors have won their victories.”

“Our common destiny and our 1,000-year history are the driving forces behind the choice that millions of people have made,” he stated.

The entrance of the four areas into Russia is non-negotiable, he said frankly, and he urged Ukraine to cease its counteroffensive, which has reclaimed some land in the northeast. There are no chances for peace talks with that firm approach. Putin said that “the people in the four regions are now Russian citizens for life,” promising that “Russia will not betray them.”

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