Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken at length about Moscow’s confrontation with the West, in an interview with journalist Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of Rossiya Segodnya, released just days before the country’s presidential election.
Here are the key takeaways from Putin’s in-depth discussion.
Non-Western nations are striving for sovereignty and are watching with interest as Russia confronts the US and its allies, Putin stated.
Western elites have been “tearing to pieces [the] poor peoples of Africa” and have exploited Latin America and Asia for 500 years, he claimed, adding that the West remains desperate to protect its unfair advantage.
For centuries, they got used to stuffing their stomachs with human flesh and their pockets with money. But they must realize that this ‘ball of vampires’ is coming to an end.
Hawkish recent rhetoric by French President Emmanual Macron may have been an emotional outburst after his country retreated from its former colonial domains in Africa, Putin suggested. Paris has accused Moscow of undermining it, although Putin insisted that Russia “did not squeeze anyone out” of the continent.
Macron has argued that the West should have no “red lines” when it comes to confronting Russia, although Moscow will respond accordingly to any nations that adopt this policy, Putin warned. Such rhetoric, however, is merely down to politicians “fantasizing and riling themselves up,” he suggested.
Putin also claimed that sending Western troops to aid Kiev would threaten Ukraine’s statehood. Poland specifically bears a grudge over lands lost to the USSR after World War II, the Russian leader argued, meaning that if Warsaw deployed military forces to Ukraine, they “wouldn’t leave.”
READ MORE: Polish troops would never leave Ukraine – Putin
Moscow remains committed to peace with Ukraine, but won’t settle based on Kiev’s “drug-fueled wish list,” Putin stressed. Russian security must be guaranteed in a way that bridges the gap in trust created by the West’s broken promises, he added.
Ukraine’s lack of frontline victories is pushing its government into reckless actions that have no military value, Putin argued, citing Kiev’s attempt to establish a foothold east of the Dnieper River.
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