Putin’s Key Speech To Russian Parliament. Russia Suspended Participation In START (Citations)

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Vladimir Putin appeared on stage to deliver his address to the Federal Assembly. Putin said that he was speaking at a difficult, crucial time, at a time of global changes in the world.

“A year ago, a decision was made to conduct a special military operation for the sake of protecting people in their historical lands. Step by step, we will solve the tasks.”

“Since 2014, Donbass fought and did not give up. Believed and waited for Russia to come to the rescue.”

“We did everything possible to solve the problem by peaceful means. We were patiently negotiating, but a completely different scenario was being prepared behind our backs.”

“The countries of the West were stalling for time, were engaged in chicanery, encouraged neo-Nazis to commit terrorist actions in Donbass. <…> We also remember the efforts of the Kiev regime to obtain nuclear weapons. The U.S. and NATO accelerated the deployment of military bases, secret biolaboratories, preparing enslaved Ukraine for a big war.”

“They gambled on people’s lives – they played the red cards. They also acted unscrupulously, destroying Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria. They got used to being allowed to do anything. They also treat people from other countries like their subjects.

“In today’s world there shouldn’t be a division into civilized countries and everyone else. We were open to dialogue with the West. But in response we received an inarticulate or hypocritical reaction.

“But there were also concrete measures – the deployment of NATO contingents around Russia’s borders. The U.S. has hundreds of bases around the world. <…> They unilaterally terminated the agreements that support world peace. In December 2021 we sent draft treaties on security guarantees and received, in fact, an outright rejection.”

“The threat was growing by the day. There was no doubt that by February everything was ready for a punitive bloody action in Donbass.”

“I want to emphasize – they were the ones who started the war, and we used force and will use force to stop it.”

“Those who planned the new attack on the Donbass clearly understood that the next target was a strike on Crimea and Sevastopol.”

“We are defending people’s lives, our own home. And the West has spent over $150 billion in pandering to the Kiev regime. And the poorest countries were allocated $60 billion for 2022. <…> At a recent conference in Munich, there were endless accusations against Russia. And they let the genie out of the bottle, plunging entire regions into chaos.

“In the 1930s, the West opened the way to Nazi power in Germany. And now they have started to make Ukraine an ‘anti-Russia,’ a project that goes back to the 19th century. With one goal to tear off the historical territories that are now called Ukraine from our country.”

“It is a shame – one of the Ukrainian brigades was given the name “Edelweiss”, like Hitler’s division. Ukrainian equipment bears Wehrmacht insignia. And in the West they don’t notice this. They don’t care who to bet on in the fight against Russia.”

“The anti-Russia project is part of the revanchist policy of creating hotbeds of conflict near our country’s borders.”

“We are not at war with the people of Ukraine, they have become hostages of their Western masters. For decades they have been destroying Ukrainian industry. Under such conditions it is easy to draw material for military operations. People have been turned into expendable supplies.”

“Responsibility lies entirely with the Western elites and the Kiev regime.

“The more long-range Western systems come in, the further we will be forced to push the threat away from our borders.”

“The goal of the West is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. To finish us off. That’s exactly how we understand it all. It’s about the existence of our country. But they cannot fail to understand that it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield, so they launch information attacks. They are targeting the younger generation.

“Look at what they are doing in the West. Pedophilia is becoming the norm, priests are approving same-sex marriages.

“Adults have the right to live as they wish. No one invades privacy, and we’re not going to do that. But look at the books of the world’s religions – it says it all. Including that the family is the union of a man and a woman. But the sacred texts are also being questioned.”

“The elites are going mad, and there is, as they say, no cure.

“Our multinational people supported the special operation. Real patriotism was evident in this support.” Putin thanks all the people of Russia for their courage and heroism.

“Deepest gratitude to parents, wives, families, doctors, paramedics, railroad workers, construction workers, defense plant workers and engineers, rural toilers.”

“Special words to the residents of the DPR and LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, who determined their own future. <…> There is nothing stronger than your determination to be with Russia, with your homeland.”

“We have begun a program to develop new regions. This includes the revival of jobs, ports on the Sea of Azov, building roads, as we did in Crimea.”

“Our duty is to support the families who lost loved ones. The family of each participant in the special operation should be surrounded by care. I propose to create a special state fund, the task of which will be targeted support. It will coordinate the provision of support, help in education, sports, and employment. A separate task is high-tech prosthetics for those who need it. The work of the fund should be open.”

“Each family of the deceased, each veteran should have its own social worker – a coordinator. Already this year the structures of the Fund should be deployed in all regions of Russia.

“Today, military servicemen and volunteers bear the hardships together. The appeals that come to me and to governors show that not all issues are resolved. It is necessary to deal with each individual case”.

UPDATE:

“There is a plan for the development of the armed forces. Our further steps should be based on real combat experience, which is absolutely invaluable.

He talked about the equipment of Russia’s nuclear forces: there is at least 91% of new equipment.

“Officers and sergeants who have shown themselves to be competent commanders will be sent to military universities, academies. They should be in demand “at the civilian level”, at the levels of power at all levels.

Putin proposes to launch a program of preferential rented housing for defense industry workers. A part of the housing payment will be assumed by the state.

“The West has launched an economic front against us. But it has not achieved anything and will not achieve anything.

The initiators of the sanctions punish themselves: they provoked a rise in prices, loss of jobs. And they tell their citizens that the Russians are to blame.”

“Anti-Russian sanctions are only a means. And the goal is to “make our citizens suffer” – this  is a quotation. Such humanists.”

“But the Russian economy turned out to be stronger than they believed in the West. We ensured the stability of the economic situation. We prevented a deficit, supported entrepreneurs and the financial system.

“GDP declined by 2.1% for the year. This is the most recent data. And we were predicted to collapse.

“Russian business has strengthened ties with reliable partners – and these are the majority. We will continue to work on a secure system of international payments, regardless of the dollar and euro.

“There is an expression ‘guns instead of oil.’ We must not destroy our own economy. We have everything we need to ensure security and to ensure the country’s steady development.

“We need to eliminate all interdepartmental contradictions, all this nonsense. Everything is for the goal! Everything for the result! Everything must be aimed at this. <…>”

UPDATE:

“At the beginning of February there was a statement from NATO demanding Russia to return to compliance with strategic arms treaties, allowing inspections of our military facilities. <…> In modern conditions of today’s confrontation it sounds like some nonsense. In our turn, we are not allowed to conduct inspections. Every time they create some bureaucratic obstacles”

“The U.S. and NATO say outright that their goal is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, and then they want to drive around military facilities.”

“NATO has actually made a bid to become a party to the START treaty. We agree. It is a matter of urgency – there is more than one nuclear power in NATO.

“The first START treaty between the USSR and the United States was concluded in 1991 in a fundamentally different situation: our relations reached a level when the USSR and the United States did not consider themselves adversaries.

“The situation after 1945 has changed. But it is unacceptable for the U.S. to reshape the world order in its own selfish interests. And now they are issuing ultimatums.”

“Under these circumstances, I am forced to say that Russia is suspending its participation in the START treaty. I repeat: it is not withdrawing from the treaty, it is suspending it.

Some officials in Washington are thinking about a natural test of their nuclear weapons. If the U.S. conducts tests, we will do the same. There should be no illusions that global parity can be destroyed.”

“Thank you for your unity, for your help. Russia will meet any challenge, because we are one country, one united people, confident in our strength. The truth is with us.”

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