West wants to be done with Russia, seeks proxy war in Europe: Putin
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In his address to Russia's Federal Assembly, Putin reveals that there is information that the US is considering the possibility of testing nuclear weapons.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin in his address to Russia's Federal Assembly at Moscow's Gostiny Dvor, Feb. 21, 2023 (TASS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday pointed out that Russia did everything it could to resolve the situation in Donbass by peaceful means, but a different scenario was prepared by other countries.
"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," Putin said in his address to Russia's Federal Assembly ahead of the first anniversary of the start of the war on February 24, 2022.
He further underlined that the West's promises regarding its desire to bring peace to the Donbass region have turned out to be "a forgery, a cruel lie."
"The promises of the Western rulers, their statements about a desire to establish peace in Donbass turned into, as we now see, a forgery, a cruel lie. They were just playing for time, engaging in chicanery, turning a blind eye to political assassinations, the repression of the Kiev regime against those unwanted, the abuse of believers," Putin said.
He continued that Western elites have become "a symbol of total unprincipled lies," adding that Western governments treated peoples of their own countries with the same disdain.
Time of radical changes
The Russian President said 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," he indicated.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Russian President blamed the West for the escalation of the Ukraine conflict after Kiev's allies promised to send new weapons.
"The responsibility for fuelling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of victims... lies completely with Western elites," Putin said.
He also accused the West of wanting "to be done with" Russia, saying, "Western elites are not hiding their goal - to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It means to be done with us once and for all."
Read more: Pentagon announces new $460mln military assistance package to Ukraine
West seeks to ignite proxy war in Europe, eliminate competitors
The West continues to pursue the goal of directing aggression to the East, trying to ignite a proxy war in Europe and eliminate competitors, Putin pointed out.
"Then, in the 30s of the last century, and now there is only one intention — to direct aggression to the East. To ignite a war in Europe by someone else's hands, to eliminate competitors," the Russian President said in his address to Russia's Federal Assembly.
In the same context, Putin said neo-Nazis in Ukraine do not hide whose heirs they consider themselves to be, putting swastikas on the military equipment and using Nazi names, but the West ignores this ideology.
"Neo-Nazis do not hide whose heirs they consider themselves to be. It is surprising that none of those in power in the West notice this," he said.
West tried to destabilize Russian society
Further implicating the West in destabilizing Russian society, the Russian President indicated that their attempt to do so by introducing sanctions failed.
"Sanctions against Russia are only a means, and the goal, as the Western leaders themselves declare ... is to make our citizens suffer, to make [them] suffer ... They want to make the people suffer, thereby destabilizing our society from within. But their calculation was not justified," Putin said.
According to Putin, the West will try to divide Russia, "betting on 'national traitors'."
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", according to Putin.
"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," he explained.
The Russian President also revealed that the West had trained Ukrainian troops and shipped weapons and military equipment to Kiev long before the start of the war.
"I want to specifically emphasize that Kiev and the West had negotiations on deliveries of air defense systems, fighter jets and other military equipment to Ukraine long before the start of the special military operation," he said.
West trying to accelerate process of turning Ukraine into "anti-Russia" since 2014
The West has unleashed the war in Ukraine, and Russia has been using force to stop it, Putin indicated on Tuesday.
"They [the West] are those who unleashed the war, and we have used force and will continue to use force to stop it," he stressed.
Putin said 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," he explained.
The Russian leader said after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the West is not abandoning attempts to "incite" the former Soviet countries "to completely put an end to Russia as one of the largest remaining parts of our historic state territory."
Russia to implement advanced research, development in army, navy
Putin underlined that Russia will massively implement the most advanced developments to improve the potential of the army and navy.
"We have such developments and samples of weapons and equipment in every area. Many of them are substantially superior to their foreign analogs," he revealed in his speech.
Putin indicated that such work is underway and is being done "on the Russian, scientific and industrial basis, through the active involvement of small and medium high-tech businesses in the fulfillment of state defense orders."
As for the nuclear forces, the Russian leader indicated that their level of equipment is 91.3%, confirming that it is necessary to reach this level in all military units.
"The level of equipping Russia's nuclear forces with the latest systems exceeds 91% - 91.3%. And now, taking into account the experience that we have gained, we must reach the same high, qualitative level in all components of the military," he said.
In the same context, the Russian President revealed that there is information that the US is considering the possibility of testing nuclear weapons.
"Some figures in Washington, we know for certain, are already thinking about the possibility of full-scale tests of their nuclear weapons, including taking into account the fact that the United States is developing new types of nuclear weapons. There is such information," Putin mentioned during his speech.
He underlined that the Russian Ministry of Defense and Rosatom must be ready to test Russian nuclear weapons if the US conducts the test first.
Inflation in Russia to approach 4% target in 2nd quarter of 2023
Touching on Russia's economy, the Russian President indicated that inflation in Russia will approach the target level of 4% in the second quarter of 2023.
"According to estimates, inflation in Russia will approach the target level of 4% already in the second quarter of this year. Let me remind you that in some EU countries, it [inflation] is already 17%, 12%, 20%,” noted Putin in his speech.
Moreover, he highlighted that the share of the ruble in foreign trade payments of Russia has doubled over the past year and amounted to a third, adding that "given the currencies of friendly countries, this is more than half."
Regarding Western-led anti-Russia sanctions, Putin considered that those who have initiated sanctions against Russia are punishing themselves and spurring inflation in their countries while accusing Moscow of it.
He continued, "Russia's economy and administrative system proved to be more resilient than the West expected it to be.”
"They tried to sever economic ties with Russian companies, disconnect the financial system from communication channels in order to destroy our economy, deprive us of access to export markets in order to target revenues,” the Russian leader said.
“This is theft, in no other way to say it, of our foreign exchange reserves, attempts to crash the ruble and provoke devastating inflation," Putin underlined.
