Analysis of Putin’s Speech on the Situation in Ukraine and the Impact of International Politics

“Thank you very much, Galina Ivanovna. First, I want to say that I, and to all the people living in these border areas, want to express my gratitude for their courage and solidarity. We will do everything to support them. And you and your colleagues at the municipal level, I know how heroically people behave there under shelling, providing help. I mean municipal employees, providing help to the elderly, children, women. This is truly a manifestation of the best traits of the national character.

In this regard, what I would like to say. Maybe it didn’t get through, but here, it seems to me, it was not widely spread. Just recently, the former president of the Czech Republic said a very frank thing, very important, publicly said, just literally a few days ago, that the war in Ukraine did not start in February of the twenty-second year, but in the summer of 2008, when a decision was made. Yes, our media already gave it, yes. Well, well, okay. But I will repeat it anyway, when a decision was made to open the door for Ukraine and Georgia, doors to NATO. I remind you that Ukraine gained its independence based on the declaration of independence. And it was written there that Ukraine is a neutral state. This decision in 2008 fundamentally changed the situation in Eastern Europe and from the point of view of ensuring the security of Russia.

Besides, in 2014, there was also a coup and the declaration of Russians in Ukraine as a non-titular nation. And after that followed a whole series of other decisions that actually led to what is happening now in Latvia, in these other Baltic republics, when Russians are simply thrown out across the border. You understand, these are very serious things that directly affect the security of our country. Well, and in 2014, after the coup, just military actions began in Donbass, they unleashed the war already hot. This all led to the tragedy that we are experiencing today.

And what is happening now, namely the solidarity of our society, the strengthening of our economy, not only in agriculture, in industry, the growth of the potential of the Armed Forces, this is a complete surprise for the enemy. But full and absolute, it means what is happening, people from the side ask: “Why do the Kiev authorities do what they do? They shell peaceful cities, settlements, hit the squares, what is the military sense in this? None, zero.” Why do they do this? There is an answer. First, to show their people and their sponsors, who give money, weapons, and ammunition, to show that they are capable of responding to Russia’s actions. When Russia, with the aim of solving one of the main tasks of demilitarizing Ukraine, strikes precision strikes on military infrastructure and defense industry enterprises throughout the depth of Ukrainian territory with high-precision and long-range weapons. They try to show that they too can do something, but instead of solving military tasks, they act in such a barbaric way, just hitting peaceful populated areas, moreover, with indiscriminate weapons, the multiple launch rocket system just fires at the squares.

And all this vaya, the second task, is refusing negotiations. They refused negotiations. Well, I remind you, in Istanbul, we agreed on everything, I tell you this, a representative of municipal authority. Well, and all citizens of Russia, of course, should know. But you work directly with people. We agreed on everything, moreover, the head of the negotiation group from Ukraine even put his signature under it, the signature stands, we have the document. We just need to know, some kind of submit, that Russia is indeed intent on going to resolve these issues peacefully, it is necessary to withdraw troops from Kiev, withdrew, the next day they threw all the agreements in the trash. Now they publicly said, including the head of this very negotiation group. And he, by the way, is the head of the ruling party in parliament, in the Rada, said: “Yes, we were ready, we missed it, because then the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr. Johnson, came and persuaded us not to implement these agreements.” Well, fools, just like that, if we would have gone for it, everything would have been over long ago, a year and a half ago. This is just [music] l, but this is not all, of course, one of the main tasks of strikes of this kind is to distract the attention of their own population, sponsors again, from the complete failure of the so-called counteroffensive, complete and absolute. And as for this negotiation process, an attempt to induce the refusal of those conquests, which are not there, a year and a half, but this is impossible, everyone understands that this is impossible, and they, the ruling rudin in Ukraine, understand, and Western elites understand, everyone understands. Just these so-called peace formulas, which are talked about in the West, in Ukraine, this is a continuation of the implementation of the decree of the President of Ukraine on the prohibition of negotiations with Russia. That’s what it is. These are prohibitive requirements for the negotiation process, but they don’t want to, they don’t need to. Just if what is happening now continues, what is happening now, and now it is quite obvious. Not only did their counteroffensive fail, but the initiative is completely in the hands of the Russian Armed Forces. If this even continues, Ukrainian statehood may be dealt an irreparable, very serious blow, but this is their area of responsibility, this will then be the result of their policy and their rule.

As for our citizens, especially those living in these territories, of course, once again I want to express words of gratitude, recognition for courage, for solidarity, and all those who work there, municipal employees, of course, I ask you to continue this service in the same mode as it is now. I literally congratulated the governor of the Belgorod region on his birthday yesterday, we discussed all these issues in great detail with him.”