Vlad:    Listen, people in the Donbass are not stray dogs. Between 13,000 and 14,000 people have been killed over the years. More than 500 children have been killed or crippled. And what’s especially intolerable is that the so-called ‘civilized’ West preferred not to notice it during those eight years,” https://www.rt.com/russia/551321-putin-difficult-decision-attack/

“Empire of Lies” Speech – February 24, 2022

Citizens of Russia, friends,

I consider it necessary today to speak again about the tragic events in Donbass and the key aspects of ensuring the security of Russia.

I will begin with what I said in my address on February 21, 2022. I spoke about our biggest concerns and worries, and about the fundamental threats which irresponsible Western politicians created for Russia consistently, rudely and unceremoniously from year to year. I am referring to the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border.

It is a fact that over the past 30 years we have been patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries regarding the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we invariably faced either cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail, while the North Atlantic alliance continued to expand despite our protests and concerns. Its military machine is moving and, as I said, is approaching our very border.

Why is this happening?  Where did this insolent manner of talking down from the height of their exceptionalism, infallibility and all-permissiveness come from?  What is the explanation for this contemptuous and disdainful attitude to our interests and absolutely legitimate demands?

The answer is simple.  Everything is clear and obvious.  In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union grew weaker and subsequently broke apart. That experience should serve as a good lesson for us, because it has shown us that the paralysis of power and will is the first step towards complete degradation and oblivion.  We lost confidence for only one moment, but it was enough to disrupt the balance of forces in the world.

As a result, the old treaties and agreements are no longer effective.  Entreaties and requests do not help.  Anything that does not suit the dominant state, the powers that be, is denounced as archaic, obsolete and useless.  At the same time, everything it regards as useful is presented as the ultimate truth and forced on others regardless of the cost, abusively and by any means available.  Those who refuse to comply are subjected to strong-arm tactics.

What I am saying now does not concerns only Russia, and Russia is not the only country that is worried about this.  This has to do with the entire system of international relations, and sometimes even US allies. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a redivision of the world, and the norms of international law that developed by that time – and the most important of them, the fundamental norms that were adopted following WWII and largely formalized its outcome – came in the way of those who declared themselves the winners of the Cold War.

Of course, practice, international relations and the rules regulating them had to take into account the changes that took place in the world and in the balance of forces. However, this should have been done professionally, smoothly, patiently, and with due regard and respect for the interests of all states and one’s own responsibility.  Instead, we saw a state of euphoria created by the feeling of absolute superiority, a kind of modern absolutism, coupled with the low cultural standards and arrogance of those who formulated and pushed through decisions that suited only themselves.  The situation took a different turn.

There are many examples of this.  First a bloody military operation was waged against Belgrade, without the UN Security Council’s sanction but with combat aircraft and missiles used in the heart of Europe.  The bombing of peaceful cities and vital infrastructure went on for several weeks.  I have to recall these facts, because some Western colleagues prefer to forget them, and when we mentioned the event, they prefer to avoid speaking about international law, instead emphasizing the circumstances which they interpret as they think necessary.

Then came the turn of Iraq, Libya and Syria.  The illegal use of military power against Libya and the distortion of all the UN Security Council decisions on Libya ruined the state, created a huge seat of international terrorism, and pushed the country towards a humanitarian catastrophe, into the vortex of a civil war, which has continued there for years.  The tragedy, which was created for hundreds of thousands and even millions of people not only in Libya but in the whole region, has led to a large-scale exodus from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe.

A similar fate was also prepared for Syria.  The combat operations conducted by the Western coalition in that country without the Syrian government’s approval or UN Security Council’s sanction can only be defined as aggression and intervention.

But the example that stands apart from the above events is, of course, the invasion of Iraq without any legal grounds.  They used the pretext of allegedly reliable information available in the United States about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  To prove that allegation, the US Secretary of State held up a vial with white powder, publicly, for the whole world to see, assuring the international community that it was a chemical warfare agent created in Iraq.  It later turned out that all of that was a fake and a sham, and that Iraq did not have any chemical weapons.  Incredible and shocking but true.  We witnessed lies made at the highest state level and voiced from the high UN rostrum.  As a result we see a tremendous loss in human life, damage, destruction, and a colossal upsurge of terrorism.

Overall, it appears that nearly everywhere, in many regions of the world where the United States brought its ‘law and order,’ this created bloody, non-healing wounds and the curse of international terrorism and extremism.  I have only mentioned the most glaring but far from only examples of disregard for international law.

This array includes promises not to expand NATO eastwards even by an inch.  To reiterate: they have deceived us, or, to put it simply, they have played us.  Sure, one often hears that politics is a dirty business.  It could be, but it shouldn’t be as dirty as it is now, not to such an extent.  This type of con-artist behavior is contrary not only to the principles of international relations but also and above all to the generally accepted norms of morality and ethics.  Where is justice and truth here?  Just lies and hypocrisy all around.

Incidentally, US politicians, political scientists and journalists write and say that a veritable “empire of lies” has been created inside the United States in recent years.  It is hard to disagree with this – it is really so.  But one should not be modest about it: the United States is still a great country and a system-forming power.  All its satellites not only humbly and obediently say yes to and parrot it at the slightest pretext but also imitate its behavior and enthusiastically accept the rules it is offering them.  Therefore, one can say with good reason and confidence that the whole so-called Western bloc formed by the United States in its own image and likeness is, in its entirety, the very same “empire of lies.”

As for our country, after the disintegration of the USSR, given the entire unprecedented openness of the new, modern Russia, its readiness to work honestly with the United States and other Western partners, and its practically unilateral disarmament, they immediately tried to put the final squeeze on us, finish us off, and utterly destroy us.  This is how it was in the 1990s and the early 2000s, when the so-called collective West was actively supporting separatism and gangs of mercenaries in southern Russia.  What victims, what losses we had to sustain and what trials we had to go through at that time before we broke the back of international terrorism in the Caucasus!  We remember this and will never forget.

Properly speaking, the attempts to use us in their own interests never ceased until quite recently: they sought to destroy our traditional values and force on us their false values that would erode us, our people from within, the attitudes they have been aggressively imposing on their countries, attitudes that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration, because they are contrary to human nature.  This is not going to happen.  No one has ever succeeded in doing this, nor will they succeed now.

Despite all that, in December 2021, we made yet another attempt to reach agreement with the United States and its allies on the principles of European security and NATO’s non-expansion. Our efforts were in vain.  The United States has not changed its position.  It does not believe it necessary to agree with Russia on a matter that is critical for us.  The United States is pursuing its own objectives, while neglecting our interests.

Of course, this situation brings up a question: what next, what are we to expect?  If history is any guide, we know that in 1940 and early 1941 the Soviet Union went to great lengths to prevent war or at least delay its outbreak.  To this end, the USSR sought not to provoke the potential aggressor until the very end by refraining or postponing the most urgent and obvious preparations it had to make to defend itself from an imminent attack.  When it finally acted, it was too late.

As a result, the country was not prepared to counter the invasion by Nazi Germany, which attacked our Motherland on June 22, 1941, without declaring war.  The country stopped the enemy and went on to defeat it, but this came at a tremendous cost.  The attempt to appease the aggressor ahead of the Great Patriotic War proved to be a mistake which came at a high cost for our people.  In the first months after the hostilities broke out, we lost vast territories of strategic importance, as well as millions of lives.  We will not make this mistake the second time.  We have no right to do so.

Those who aspire to global dominance have publicly designated Russia as their enemy.  They did so with impunity.  Make no mistake, they had no reason to act this way.  It is true that they have considerable financial, scientific, technological, and military capabilities.  We are aware of this and have an objective view of the economic threats we have been hearing, just as our ability to counter this brash and never-ending blackmail.  Let me reiterate that we have no illusions in this regard and are extremely realistic in our assessments.

As for military affairs, even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today’s Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states. Moreover, it has a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons.  In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country.

At the same time, technology, including in the defense sector, is changing rapidly.  One day there is one leader, and tomorrow another, but a military presence in territories bordering on Russia, if we permit it to go ahead, will stay for decades to come or maybe forever, creating an ever mounting and totally unacceptable threat for Russia.

Even now, with NATO’s eastward expansion the situation for Russia has been becoming worse and more dangerous by the year.  Moreover, these past days NATO leadership has been blunt in its statements that they need to accelerate and step up efforts to bring the alliance’s infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders.  In other words, they have been toughening their position.  We cannot stay idle and passively observe these developments.  This would be an absolutely irresponsible thing to do for us.

Any further expansion of the North Atlantic alliance’s infrastructure or the ongoing efforts to gain a military foothold of the Ukrainian territory are unacceptable for us.  Of course, the question is not about NATO itself.  It merely serves as a tool of US foreign policy.  The problem is that in territories adjacent to Russia, which I have to note is our historical land, a hostile “anti-Russia” is taking shape.  Fully controlled from the outside, it is doing everything to attract NATO armed forces and obtain cutting-edge weapons.

For the United States and its allies, it is a policy of containing Russia, with obvious geopolitical dividends.  For our country, it is a matter of life and death, a matter of our historical future as a nation.  This is not an exaggeration; this is a fact.  It is not only a very real threat to our interests but to the very existence of our state and to its sovereignty.  It is the red line which we have spoken about on numerous occasions.  They have crossed it.

This brings me to the situation in Donbass.  We can see that the forces that staged the coup in Ukraine in 2014 have seized power, are keeping it with the help of ornamental election procedures and have abandoned the path of a peaceful conflict settlement.  For eight years, for eight endless years we have been doing everything possible to settle the situation by peaceful political means.  Everything was in vain.

As I said in my previous address, you cannot look without compassion at what is happening there.  It became impossible to tolerate it.  We had to stop that atrocity, that genocide of the millions of people who live there and who pinned their hopes on Russia, on all of us.  It is their aspirations, the feelings and pain of these people that were the main motivating force behind our decision to recognize the independence of the Donbass people’s republics.

I would like to additionally emphasize the following.  Focused on their own goals, the leading NATO countries are supporting the far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine, those who will never forgive the people of Crimea and Sevastopol for freely making a choice to reunite with Russia.

They will undoubtedly try to bring war to Crimea just as they have done in Donbass, to kill innocent people just as members of the punitive units of Ukrainian nationalists and Hitler’s accomplices did during the Great Patriotic War.  They have also openly laid claim to several other Russian regions.

If we look at the sequence of events and the incoming reports, the showdown between Russia and these forces cannot be avoided.  It is only a matter of time.  They are getting ready and waiting for the right moment.  Moreover, they went as far as aspire to acquire nuclear weapons.  We will not let this happen.

I have already said that Russia accepted the new geopolitical reality after the dissolution of the USSR. We have been treating all new post-Soviet states with respect and will continue to act this way.  We respect and will respect their sovereignty, as proven by the assistance we provided to Kazakhstan when it faced tragic events and a challenge in terms of its statehood and integrity.  However, Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist while facing a permanent threat from the territory of today’s Ukraine.

Let me remind you that in 2000–2005 we used our military to push back against terrorists in the Caucasus and stood up for the integrity of our state.  We preserved Russia.  In 2014, we supported the people of Crimea and Sevastopol.  In 2015, we used our Armed Forces to create a reliable shield that prevented terrorists from Syria from penetrating Russia.  This was a matter of defending ourselves.  We had no other choice.

The same is happening today.  They did not leave us any other option for defending Russia and our people, other than the one we are forced to use today.  In these circumstances, we have to take bold and immediate action.  The people’s republics of Donbass have asked Russia for help.

In this context, in accordance with Article 51 (Chapter VII) of the UN Charter, with permission of Russia’s Federation Council, and in execution of the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, ratified by the Federal Assembly on February 22, I made a decision to carry out a special military operation.

The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime.  To this end, we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.

It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory.  We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force.  At the same time, we have been hearing an increasing number of statements coming from the West that there is no need any more to abide by the documents setting forth the outcomes of World War II, as signed by the totalitarian Soviet regime.  How can we respond to that?

The outcomes of World War II and the sacrifices our people had to make to defeat Nazism are sacred.  This does not contradict the high values of human rights and freedoms in the reality that emerged over the post-war decades.  This does not mean that nations cannot enjoy the right to self-determination, which is enshrined in Article 1 of the UN Charter.

Let me remind you that the people living in territories which are part of today’s Ukraine were not asked how they want to build their lives when the USSR was created or after World War II.  Freedom guides our policy, the freedom to choose independently our future and the future of our children.  We believe that all the peoples living in today’s Ukraine, anyone who want to do this, must be able to enjoy this right to make a free choice.

In this context I would like to address the citizens of Ukraine.  In 2014, Russia was obliged to protect the people of Crimea and Sevastopol from those who you yourself call “nats.”  The people of Crimea and Sevastopol made their choice in favor of being with their historical homeland, Russia, and we supported their choice.  As I said, we could not act otherwise.

The current events have nothing to do with a desire to infringe on the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.  They are connected with the defending of Russia from those who have taken Ukraine hostage and are trying to use it against our country and our people.

I reiterate: we are acting to defend ourselves from the threats created for us and from a worse peril than what is happening now.  I am asking you, however hard this may be, to understand this and to work together with us so as to turn this tragic page as soon as possible and to move forward together, without allowing anyone to interfere in our affairs and our relations but developing them independently, so as to create favorable conditions for overcoming all these problems and to strengthen us from within as a single whole, despite the existence of state borders.  I believe in this, in our common future.

I would also like to address the military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Comrade officers,

Your fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers did not fight the Nazi occupiers and did not defend our common Motherland to allow today’s neo-Nazis to seize power in Ukraine.  You swore the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people and not to the junta, the people’s adversary which is plundering Ukraine and humiliating the Ukrainian people.

I urge you to refuse to carry out their criminal orders.  I urge you to immediately lay down arms and go home.  I will explain what this means: the military personnel of the Ukrainian army who do this will be able to freely leave the zone of hostilities and return to their families.

I want to emphasize again that all responsibility for the possible bloodshed will lie fully and wholly with the ruling Ukrainian regime.

I would now like to say something very important for those who may be tempted to interfere in these developments from the outside.  No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.  No matter how the events unfold, we are ready.  All the necessary decisions in this regard have been taken.  I hope that my words will be heard.

Citizens of Russia,

The culture and values, experience and traditions of our ancestors invariably provided a powerful underpinning for the wellbeing and the very existence of entire states and nations, their success and viability.  Of course, this directly depends on the ability to quickly adapt to constant change, maintain social cohesion, and readiness to consolidate and summon all the available forces in order to move forward.

We always need to be strong, but this strength can take on different forms.  The “empire of lies,” which I mentioned in the beginning of my speech, proceeds in its policy primarily from rough, direct force.  This is when our saying on being “all brawn and no brains” applies.

We all know that having justice and truth on our side is what makes us truly strong. If this is the case, it would be hard to disagree with the fact that it is our strength and our readiness to fight that are the bedrock of independence and sovereignty and provide the necessary foundation for building a reliable future for your home, your family, and your Motherland.

Dear compatriots,

I am certain that devoted soldiers and officers of Russia’s Armed Forces will perform their duty with professionalism and courage.  I have no doubt that the government institutions at all levels and specialists will work effectively to guarantee the stability of our economy, financial system and social wellbeing, and the same applies to corporate executives and the entire business community.  I hope that all parliamentary parties and civil society take a consolidated, patriotic position.

At the end of the day, the future of Russia is in the hands of its multi-ethnic people, as has always been the case in our history.  This means that the decisions that I made will be executed, that we will achieve the goals we have set, and reliably guarantee the security of our Motherland.

I believe in your support and the invincible force rooted in the love for our Fatherland.

………………………………..

Earlier speech 22.2.22  https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1495845429166096388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1495845429166096388%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unz.com%2Faanglin%2Fputin-recognizes-eastern-ukrainian-independence-sends-the-troops-in%2F

Andrew Anglin summary of it (“historic in a way that nothing has been in my lifetime. It’s really worth watching the whole thing.”)

“It’s not a real country now, it is completely run by foreign powers. It is not controlled by the Ukrainian people, but by foreign powers, and also by oligarchs chosen by foreign powers. Both groups have robbed the people of the country for their own purposes, primarily using the “country” as a battering ram against Russia.

  • Stalin and Krushchev gave Russian territory to the Ukraine for political administration reasons that were practical at the time but irrelevant to geopolitics because it was all the USSR. (He didn’t really make any bones about the fact that he thinks the USSR was an economic and administrative disaster.)
  • The Ukraine is a “colony with a puppet government.”
  • The Ukraine government is now saying that they are going to start building nuclear weapons, an ability that they have because they were a part of the Soviet Union.
  • NATO made promises in 1992 that they would not expand NATO eastward, and yet they started doing so immediately.
  • He asked Bill Clinton if Russia could join NATO in 2000, and Clinton blew him off and chuckled at him, proving that the plan was always to break apart Russia even further via war methods. (He said this is the first time he’s revealed he had this conversation with Clinton.)
  • He says making an enemy out of Russia just proves that the people running Washington are megalomaniacal, and have no desire for peace, and that they’ve been trying to overthrow Russia since the end of the cold war.
  • He laid out the details of the “Maidan” coup, which was not a “revolution,” but a violent overthrow of an elected government by foreign powers.
  • He explained that the Ukraine is not a “democracy” and that Russian-speakers are being physically attacked, economically disenfranchised, and banned from speaking their own language not just at schools but also in shops and other public places. He says that the Ukrainians didn’t harbor this kind of hatred before, it was a “brotherly” nation, and that the West has trumped up hatred via their control of the Ukrainian government, and their connection to the oligarchs.
  • He said that like every country, Russia has a right to protect its interests, and this is exactly what they plan to do.
  • The West is not offering a peaceful solution. They pretend like they are, but then refuse any form of concession, and just start making more threats.
  • Finally: Russia will officially recognize the independence of the two declared breakaway republics in the Donbass.
  • ………………………………
  • Minsk Agreement:
  • “At yesterday’s event… the Ukrainian leadership publicly declared that they were not going to abide by these agreements. Not going to abide by them. Well, what else can you say about that?” (Vladimir Putin)     his Full reply in a Q&A session    http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67838:
  • “Let us start with the Minsk agreements – the Minsk Package of Measures to settle the situation in southeastern Ukraine. That is what they are called.It is not seven but almost eight full years that we have been working on this. By “we”, I mean Russia, and yours truly was the author of these documents. Therefore, I would like to emphasise again that we were interested in seeing this package of measures implemented, because it was the result of a compromise.The leaders of the two then unrecognised republics signed these documents. Incidentally, one of them was killed in a terrorist act. He was killed by the special services of Ukraine, an agent of these services. There is no question here. This is an obvious thing, simply an outright political assassination.But what matters is that the leaders of the two republics signed these documents. We managed to broker this compromise at that time. By the way, it was not easy to do this because initially the leaders of these entities did not want to take part in the Minsk agreements and to sign their names to these documents. But a compromise was reached nonetheless, which was real progress towards achieving a settlement by peaceful means.As it was said yesterday during the Security Council meeting, over all these years, the efforts of the current Kiev authorities reduced it all to naught. So, the Minsk agreements were dead long before yesterday’s recognition of the people’s republics of Donbass. They were killed not by us and not by the representatives of these republics, but by the current Kiev authorities.In fact, yesterday’s event – the recognition of these republics – was dictated precisely by the fact that the Ukrainian leadership had publicly declared that they were not going to abide by these agreements. Not going to abide by them. Well, what else can you say to that? The top officials have publicly said so.What more is there to wait for? Should we wait for this abuse of people to continue, this genocide of the almost four million people who live in these territories? It is unbearable to watch. You can see for yourself what is going on there. Well, how can you continue to put up with that? As a matter of fact, that is all there is to it.When we spoke to our European colleagues, they all said the same thing: “Yes, this is the way forward,” but in reality they were unable to force their partners in the current leadership in Kiev to do so. So, we were compelled to take this decision and, in this sense, indeed, the Minsk agreements do not exist anymore. Why abide by them if we have recognised the independence of these entities?With regard to the borders within which we will recognise these republics, we did recognise them, which means we recognised their foundational documents, including the Constitution, and the Constitution stipulates their borders within the Donetsk and Lugansk regions at the time when they were part of Ukraine. But we expect, and I want to emphasise this, that all disputes will be resolved during talks between the current Kiev authorities and the leaders of these republics. Unfortunately, at this point in time, we realise that it is impossible to do so, since hostilities are still ongoing and, moreover, they are showing signs of escalating. But I hope this is how it will turn out in the future.Regarding the use of the Armed Forces abroad. Well, of course. By all means. We signed treaties yesterday, and these treaties with the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic contain relevant clauses that say that we will provide these republics with appropriate assistance, including military. Since there is an ongoing conflict there, we make it clear by this decision that, if need be, we plan to fulfill our obligations.
  • Q: After what happened yesterday and today, do you see any prospects for improving relations between Moscow and Kiev?
  • A:    You know, we discussed these issues with our European partners during our talks and meetings for many hours. In fact, we also spoke with the Americans about these issues more than once.I think this was not said in public, but I will say it. Naturally, this question suggests itself: what should both sides, or Kiev do for the situation to be considered settled in the long-term historical perspective so that we could live in peace and there would be no conflicts, to say nothing of armed conflicts?I will reveal this dark secret to you. Ultimately, there is nothing secret about this. The first thing that everyone should do is to recognise the will of the people who live in Sevastopol and in Crimea. I have said this many times but I want to stress it again. In what way was this expression of popular will any worse than what happened in Kosovo? In no way. It is just that their decisions were made by parliament and ours at a nationwide referendum.I would like to emphasise once again: nobody could have herded people into polling stations with machineguns or bayonets. They came there of their own free will and made their decision to reunite with Russia. This decision must be respected. If those countries that argue against it consider themselves democracies, they must recognise it eventually. A referendum is the highest form of democracy. This is my first point.The second. We have spoken about this publicly many times and, in effect, this is the subject of our sharpest dispute with Washington and NATO. We are categorically opposed to Ukraine joining NATO because this poses a threat to us and we have arguments to support this. I have repeatedly spoken about it in this hall.On this point, of course, we are proceeding from what many people are saying, including in the capitals of Western countries, I mean that the best decision would be for our colleagues in the Western countries not to lose face, so to say, and for Kiev itself to refuse to join NATO. In effect, in so doing, they would translate the idea of neutrality into life. This is my second point.My third point, unfortunately, is not relevant any longer. I have always said that the Donbass issue had to be resolved through peace talks and implementation of the Minsk agreements.Finally, the all-important fourth point. Everything mentioned so far could be upset in a second if our so-called partners continue to pump the current Kiev authorities full of modern types of weapons. Therefore, the most important point is the demilitarisation, to a certain extent, of today’s Ukraine because it is the only factor that can be objectively controlled, monitored and responded to.Everything else can change completely in either direction overnight, the way, for example, the current Ukrainian leader made the previous leader persona non grata by initiating criminal proceedings against him for his allegedly treacherous actions, because he disapproved of the Minsk agreements.These potential agreements, which I have just mentioned, could be repudiated the same way, if they were to be approved by the current leadership. He would just leave for Washington, Paris or Berlin and that’s it, while we would be left with an “anti-Russia” armed to the teeth. This is totally unacceptable, particularly now, after Ukraine’s current authorities have declared their nuclear ambitions.
  • Q: Ukraine might get nuclear weapons again
  • A:  I have just mentioned it. We take it that these words were primarily addressed to us. I want to say that we have heard them. Ever since Soviet times, Ukraine has had fairly broad nuclear competencies, they have several nuclear power units and the nuclear industry is fairly well developed, they have dedicated schools, there is everything there to solve this issue much faster than in those countries which are solving matters from scratch. I will not enumerate them, you know all about it anyway. This is number one.They only lack one thing – uranium enrichment systems. But this is a matter of technology, it is not unsolvable for Ukraine, it can be remedied quite easily. As to delivery vehicles, I think I already said in yesterday’s address that they have old Soviet-made Tochka-U missiles with a range of 100 plus kilometres, 110 kilometres. This is also not a problem in view of the competencies, say, at Yuzhmash, which used to manufacture intercontinental ballistic missiles for the Soviet Union.What is the threat to us? The appearance of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine is a strategic threat to us. Because the range can be extended from 110 kilometres to 300, to 500 – and that is it, Moscow will be in the strike zone. This is a strategic threat to us. And that is how we took it. We definitely must and will take it very seriously.
  • Q: do you think it is possible in today’s world to resolve problems with force and remain on the side of good?
  • A:  Well, why do you think that good must always be frail and helpless? I do not think that is true. I think good means being able to defend oneself. We will proceed from that.
  • ……………………………………………………………………………
  • http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67828    NATO / Ukraine
  • “We are seeing how persistently the Kiev regime is being pumped with arms. Since 2014, the United States alone has spent billions of dollars for this purpose, including supplies of arms and equipment and training of specialistsIn the last few months, there has been a constant flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, ostentatiously, with the entire world watching. Foreign advisors supervise the activities of Ukraine’s armed forces and special services and we are well aware of this.

    Over the past few years, military contingents of NATO countries have been almost constantly present on Ukrainian territory under the pretext of exercises. The Ukrainian troop control system has already been integrated into NATO. This means that NATO headquarters can issue direct commands to the Ukrainian armed forces, even to their separate units and squads.

    The United States and NATO have started an impudent development of Ukrainian territory as a theatre of potential military operations. Their regular joint exercises are obviously anti-Russian. Last year alone, over 23,000 troops and more than a thousand units of hardware were involved.

    A law has already been adopted that allows foreign troops to come to Ukraine in 2022 to take part in multinational drills. Understandably, these are primarily NATO troops. This year, at least ten of these joint drills are planned. Obviously, such undertakings are designed to be a cover-up for a rapid buildup of the NATO military group on Ukrainian territory.

    This is all the more so since the network of airfields upgraded with US help … is capable of transferring army units in a very short time. Ukraine’s airspace is open to flights by US strategic and reconnaissance aircraft and drones that conduct surveillance over Russian territory. I will add that the US-built Maritime Operations Centre in Ochakov makes it possible to support activity by NATO warships, including the use of precision weapons, against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and our infrastructure on the entire Black Sea Coast…

     NATO’s military infrastructure is “a knife to our throat.”

    “The Alliance and its military infrastructure has reached Russia’s borders. This is one of the key causes of the European security crisis; it has had the most negative impact on the entire system of international relations and led to the loss of mutual trust.

    The situation continues to deteriorate, including in the strategic area. Thus, positioning areas for interceptor missiles are being established in Romania and Poland as part of the US project to create a global missile defence system. It is common knowledge that the launchers deployed there can be used for Tomahawk cruise missiles – offensive strike systems.

    I will explain that American strategic planning documents confirm the possibility of a so-called preemptive strike at enemy missile systems. We also know the main adversary of the United States and NATO. It is Russia. NATO documents officially declare our country to be the main threat to Euro-Atlantic security. Ukraine will serve as an advanced bridgehead for such a strike. If our ancestors heard about this, they would probably simply not believe this. We do not want to believe this today either, but it is what it is….

    …. after the US destroyed the INF Treaty, the Pentagon has been openly developing many land-based attack weapons, including ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 5,500 km. If deployed in Ukraine, such systems will be able to hit targets in Russia’s entire European part. The flying time of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Moscow will be less than 35 minutes; ballistic missiles from Kharkov will take seven to eight minutes; and hypersonic assault weapons, four to five minutes. It is like a knife to the throat. I have no doubt that they hope to carry out these plans, as they did many times in the past, expanding NATO eastward, moving their military infrastructure to Russian borders and fully ignoring our concerns, protests and warnings….

    …the level of threats to our country has increased significantly, Russia has every right to respond in order to ensure its security. And that is exactly what we will do.”

    ” (“Adress of the President of the Russian Federation”, Kremlin, RU) 

NB,

“Here’s a short list of NATO’s accomplishments:

  1. The destruction of Yugoslavia
  2. The destruction of Afghanistan
  3. The destruction of Libya
  4. The destruction of Iraq
  5. The destruction of Syria”                       –
    Mike Whitney,  https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/the-man-who-sold-ukraine/

 

…………………

Excellent discussion by Alexander Mercouris  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uJTNJpfeVo

Diabolical/obscene Zelensky    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyTyS151N-g&feature=youtu.be

Me with Jim Fetzer:  https://www.bitchute.com/video/dQQrhvnMWZ9v/

Me with HPANW  Ben  http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2022/03/ukraine-breaking-silence.html

No war in Kiev – a normal city 4 March  https://www.bitchute.com/video/zERoYzWE9r9P/

Jim F. Anti-Russian deception: https://jamesfetzer.org/2022/03/udo-ulfkotte-in-memoriam-what-nobody-told-you-about-ukraine-mindblowing/

A bishop’s view    https://www.marcotosatti.com/2022/03/07/declaration-of-msgr-carlo-maria-vigano-on-the-russia-ukraine-crisis/

John Helmer:    http://johnhelmer.net/operation-barbarossa-in-slow-motion-this-is-the-offensive-capacity-the-us-was-preparing-in-the-ukraine-until-last-week/#more-47611

 

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