On Tuesday, February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the statements of the Russian leader were replicated by Western newspapers and news agencies.
So, on its website, the German magazine Spiegel noted that the Russian leader declared the impossibility of defeating Russia on the battlefield and accused Western countries of escalating the conflict in Ukraine.
“Western elites do not hide their goal: to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, that is, to end us once and for all,” the publication quotes the head of state.
It is also noted that Russia will continue its offensive in Ukraine in accordance with the goals of the special military operation (SVO). Putin also once again declared that a “neo-Nazi regime” is in power in Ukraine, the publication says.
French news agency AP draws attention to the fact that the Russian leader accused the West of fomenting a global war in order to destroy Russia.
As added by the agency ReutersPutin said Russia was suspending participation in the New Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the latest major arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington.
The document limits the number of nuclear warheads that the world’s two largest nuclear powers can deploy and expires in 2026.
“Today I am compelled to announce that Russia is suspending its participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty,” Putin’s agency quoted him as saying.
Italian newspaper ANSA added that the White House condemned the words of the Russian president and their anti-Western orientation.
“No one is attacking Russia. There is some kind of absurdity in the fact that Russia is threatened by some kind of military threat from Ukraine or anyone else, ”Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, told reporters.
American TV channel CNN noted Putin’s words that the Kiev regime protects the interests of its “Western masters”, and not the national interests of the country.
“The Kiev regime and their Western masters have completely taken over the country’s economy,” the Russian president said.
Putin also noted that they destroyed the economy and industry of Ukraine, as a result of which Ukrainians became poorer.
“They are responsible for the escalation of the situation in Ukraine … for a huge number of victims,” the TV channel quoted Putin as saying.
TV channel euronews drew attention to the fact that Putin warned the West against providing additional military assistance to Ukraine, saying that such support would provoke a military response from Moscow. The President of the Russian Federation also added that the Russian economy withstood Western sanctions.
French edition Le Soleil focused on Putin’s words about international sanctions. The West “has achieved nothing and will not achieve anything,” and the Russian economy resisted better than experts expected, he said during the message.
“The elites of the West do not hide their goal: to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, that is, to end us once and for all,” Putin is quoted by journalists.
The responsibility for the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict lies with Western elites, he added.
The publication also notes that, referring to wealthy Russian businessmen whose assets, yachts or accounts were arrested abroad under the sanctions, Putin stressed that “none of the ordinary people feel sorry for them.” According to him, several oligarchs became rich after the fall of the USSR.
As the head of state summarized, Russia is an open country with a distinctive civilization, and the hallmarks of the Russian people are generosity, breadth of soul, mercy and compassion, as well as solidarity. It is this cohesion that allows the Russian Federation to respond to any external challenges.
#international #press #reacted #Putins #speech