President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday vowed to continue with Russia’s year-long war in Ukraine stressing that “defeating Russia is impossible.”
He accused the U.S. led NATO alliance of fanning the flames of the conflict in the mistaken belief that it could defeat Russia in a global confrontation.
In his national address to the assembled joint houses of the Russian parliament, Putin said that Russia would “carefully and consistently resolve the tasks facing us” in Ukraine.
Besides the promise to continue the war and warnings to the West of a global confrontation, Putin also sought to justify the war, saying it had been forced on Russia and that he understood the pain of the families of those who had fallen in battle.
Putin: Ukraine is hostage to the Kyiv regime and its Western overlords
“The people of Ukraine have become the hostage of the Kyiv regime and its Western overlords, who have effectively occupied this country in the political, military and economic sense,” Putin said.
“They intend to transform a local conflict into a phase of global confrontation. This is exactly how we understand it all and we will react accordingly, because in this case we are talking about the existence of our country.”
Defeating Russia, he said, was impossible. The 70-year-old Kremlin chief said Russia would never yield to Western attempts to divide its society, adding that a majority of Russians supported the war.
The west’s “military and economic aggression against Russia”
Putin said that the West has begun “not just a military and information, but an economic aggression” against Russia. “They have not achieved success in either of these areas,” he stressed.
“The initiators of the sanctions are punishing themselves,” he said. He went on to say that the West had provoked higher prices, factory closures and the collapse of the energy sector in their own countries, while telling their citizens that is the Russians who are to blame.
At the end of his 1 hour and 45 minute speech, Putin announced that he was suspending Russia’s participation in the New Start treaty with the US.
After accusing the US and Nato of failing to cooperate, he said “In this regard, I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty.” He added that Russia would carry out new nuclear tests if the US did so.
Related: Russia Plans Late February Offensive with 500,000 Troops, Ukraine Says
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