Putin criticises the West as he defends Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Putin has frequently justified his invasion of Ukraine by accusing western countries of threatening Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to give his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Picture: Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused western countries of igniting and sustaining the war in Ukraine – dismissing any blame for Moscow almost a year after the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbour.

In his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, Mr Putin cast Russia — and Ukraine — as victims of western double-dealing and said Russia, not Ukraine, is the one fighting for its very existence.

“We aren’t fighting the Ukrainian people,” he said on Tuesday, days before the war’s first anniversary on Friday.

Ukraine “has become hostage of the Kyiv regime and its western masters, which have effectively occupied the country,” he claimed.

The speech reiterated a litany of grievances the Russian leader has frequently offered as justification for the widely condemned war and for ignoring international demands to pull back from occupied areas in Ukraine.

Observers are expected to scour it for signs of how Mr Putin sees the conflict, which has become bogged down, and what tone he might set for the year ahead.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. Picture: Sergei Karpukhin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

The Russian leader vowed no military let-up in Ukrainian territories he has illegally annexed, apparently rejecting any peace overtures in a conflict that has reawakened fears of a new cold war.

Instead, he offered his personalised version of recent history, which discounted arguments by the Ukrainian government that it needed western help to thwart a Russian military takeover.

“Western elites aren’t trying to conceal their goals to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ to Russia,” Mr Putin said in the speech, which was broadcast by all state TV channels.

“They intend to transform the local conflict into a global confrontation.” He said Russia is prepared to respond as “it will be a matter of our country’s existence”.

While the Constitution says the president should deliver the speech annually, Mr Putin never gave one in 2022 as his troops rolled into Ukraine and suffered repeated setbacks.

Before the speech, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader would focus on the “special military operation” in Ukraine, as Moscow calls it, and Russia’s economy and social issues. Many observers predicted it would also address Moscow’s fallout with the West — and Mr Putin began with strong words for those countries.

“It’s they who have started the war and we are using force to end it,” he said before an audience of politicians, state officials and soldiers who have fought in Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become a grinding war of attrition that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, ravaged cities and destroyed vital infrastructure across the country.

Mr Putin accused the West of launching “aggressive information attacks” and taking aim at Russian culture, religion and values because it is aware that “it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield”.

He also accused western nations of waging an attack on Russia’s economy with sanctions — but claimed they had not “achieved anything and will not achieve anything”.

Mr Putin also said Russia will suspend its participation in a treaty aimed at keeping a lid on nuclear weapons expansion.

The so-called New Start Treaty was signed by Russia and the US in 2010 and caps the number of long-range nuclear warheads they can deploy and limits the use of missiles that can carry atomic weapons.

Mr Putin said Russia is not fully withdrawing from the treaty yet – and said his country must be ready to resume nuclear weapons tests if the US does.

Underscoring the anticipation ahead of time, some state TV channels put out a countdown for the event, while Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti said the address may be “historic”.

A TV screen shows Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing the beginning of the military operation in February 2022, next to a cardboard cutout depicting a Russian soldier, at an exhibition dedicated to the participation of Russian army in the military action in Ukraine in the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Picture: AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky

The Kremlin this year barred media from “unfriendly” countries, including the US, UK and those in the EU. Mr Peskov said journalists from those nations would be able to cover the speech by watching the broadcast.

Mr Peskov told reporters the speech’s delay was down to Mr Putin’s “work schedule”, but Russian media reports linked it to the multiple setbacks Russian forces have suffered on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Russian president had postponed the state-of-the-nation address before; in 2017 the speech was rescheduled for early 2018.

Last year, the Kremlin also cancelled two other big annual events — Mr Putin’s press conference and a highly scripted phone-in marathon where people ask the president questions.

Analysts expected Mr Putin’s speech to be tough in the wake of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv on Monday. Mr Biden plans to give his own speech later on Tuesday in Poland, where he is expected to highlight the commitment of the central European country and other allies to Ukraine over the past year.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Mr Biden’s address will not be “some kind of head to head” with Mr Putin’s.

“This is not a rhetorical contest with anyone else,” he said.