Al-Marsad Newspaper: Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of initiating the conflict, saying that Western countries led by the United States seek to defeat his country, in a speech he delivered at the Federal Assembly, in front of the country’s political elite and military personnel who fought in Ukraine.
He added, in a speech to Parliament, today, Tuesday, that “Western money flows to encourage war have not receded,” considering that Western countries “took the genie out of the bottle.” “They are the ones who started the war and we did everything to prevent it,” he said.
Nuclear
He also stressed that the West sought to transform a local conflict into a global one. He believed that his country faces an existential threat, stressing that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield.” And he added that Kiev had held talks with the West on arms supplies before the military operation.
He also accused the West of seeking to dismantle the world order that was reached after World War II. He pointed out that NATO requested supervision of his country’s nuclear deterrent forces, considering this “request is tampering with itself.”
He waved again the nuclear, saying: “If the United States carried out nuclear tests, we will do the same.”
Suspension of participation in the Offensive Arms Treaty
Regarding the treaty with Washington, he said that Russia has suspended its participation in the treaty with the United States, which places restrictions on the strategic nuclear arsenals of both sides. “I find myself compelled to announce today that Moscow has suspended its participation in the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty,” he said.
Putin also made it clear that his country continues to fight it on Ukrainian soil, saying that it will decide the tasks of the operation step by step. He continued, “We did everything possible to solve the Donbas problem peacefully, but the West prepared a different scenario.”
Traitors trial
On the domestic front, he vowed to prosecute “traitors” in Russia. He said that “all those who chose to betray Russia must be held accountable before the law,” stressing at the same time that the matter was not a “witch-hunt.”
With regard to his country’s economy, he emphasized that Moscow is defying Western attempts to destroy the Russian economy through an unprecedented package of sanctions. He added that trillions of dollars were at stake for the West, but that Russian income streams had not dried up.
