In his state of the nation address, Russia's president says his country is only trying to end the fighting in Ukraine. The West is "fully" responsible for the war.
Shortly before the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine he ordered, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the war. "They started the war," Putin said in his State of the Union address, referring to Western countries. "Responsibility for fueling the Ukraine conflict, for its escalation, for the many victims (...) lies entirely with the Western elite." He added that the West wants to "finish" Russia "once and for all".
Western states were trying to turn a local conflict into a global one, Putin said. "We understand it that way and we will react accordingly," he warned in his address to the representatives of the Federal Assembly. It is composed of the State Duma and the Federation Council and met in the Gostiny Dvor event center in Moscow. Putin once again said that a "neo-Nazi regime" was in power in Ukraine. The "special military operation" that Moscow calls the war will continue. "Step by step, carefully and consistently, we will solve the tasks ahead of us," said the 70-year-old. Russia has tried to solve the problem in Donbass peacefully.
He announced further financial support for Russian veterans and the families of killed soldiers. Putin instructed the government to set up a special state fund in cooperation with the individual regions. Social workers should take care of the families of war dead and veterans. In addition, everyone who fought should be able to take a 14-day vacation every six months.
Putin promised reconstruction and jobs for the areas of Ukraine annexed by Moscow. He announced that there will also be major new programs for the development of the four "new subjects". Factories would be rebuilt and new jobs created, Putin said, to applause from hundreds of listeners who rose from their seats to an ovation.
So far, however, Russia has only controlled part of the illegally annexed areas of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson. Ukraine has announced that it will liberate the areas from Russian occupation. Thousands of people have already died in the fighting. During a minute's silence, Putin and the audience commemorated the war dead.
This Friday, February 24th, will be a year since Russia officially started the war against Ukraine. Putin's appearance was his 18th state of the nation address to date. The previous one was almost two years ago and took place in April 2021. Last year there were none; the head of the Kremlin explained this with a very high "dynamics of events".
