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1 00:00:00,576 --> 00:00:03,320 President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens of Russia, 2 00:00:03,742 --> 00:00:05,306 friends, 3 00:00:06,242 --> 00:00:10,533 My address concerns the events in Ukraine 4 00:00:11,203 --> 00:00:15,257 and why this is so important for us, for Russia. 5 00:00:16,227 --> 00:00:21,836 Of course, my message is also addressed to our compatriots in Ukraine. 6 00:00:23,865 --> 00:00:27,278 The matter is very serious and needs to be discussed in depth. 7 00:00:28,189 --> 00:00:30,309 The subject is very serious. 8 00:00:31,429 --> 00:00:36,268 The situation in Donbass has reached a critical, acute stage. 9 00:00:36,997 --> 00:00:43,231 I am speaking to you directly today not only to explain what is happening 10 00:00:43,256 --> 00:00:46,320 but also to inform you of the decisions being made 11 00:00:46,342 --> 00:00:49,777 as well as potential further steps. 12 00:00:50,902 --> 00:00:52,485 I would like to emphasise again 13 00:00:52,505 --> 00:00:55,290 that Ukraine is not just a neighbouring country for us. 14 00:00:55,839 --> 00:01:01,464 It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. 15 00:01:02,463 --> 00:01:05,793 These are our comrades, those dearest to us – 16 00:01:05,812 --> 00:01:09,713 not only colleagues, friends and people who once served together, 17 00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:15,329 but also relatives, people bound by blood, by family ties. 18 00:01:17,061 --> 00:01:18,213 Since time immemorial, 19 00:01:18,243 --> 00:01:21,976 the people living in the south-west of what has historically been Russian land 20 00:01:21,986 --> 00:01:24,657 have called themselves Russians and Orthodox Christians. 21 00:01:24,735 --> 00:01:27,064 This was the case before the 17th century, 22 00:01:27,097 --> 00:01:33,156 when a portion of this territory rejoined the Russian state, and after. 23 00:01:34,125 --> 00:01:37,758 It seems to us that, generally speaking, we all know these facts, 24 00:01:37,796 --> 00:01:41,131 that this is common knowledge. 25 00:01:41,815 --> 00:01:46,477 Still, it is necessary to say at least a few words 26 00:01:46,536 --> 00:01:51,331 about the history of this issue in order to understand what is happening today, 27 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,320 to explain the motives behind Russia’s actions and what we aim to achieve. 28 00:01:57,548 --> 00:02:00,220 So, I will start with the fact that modern Ukraine 29 00:02:00,268 --> 00:02:04,317 was entirely created by Russia 30 00:02:05,255 --> 00:02:08,060 or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik, Communist Russia. 31 00:02:08,753 --> 00:02:14,795 This process started practically right after the 1917 revolution, 32 00:02:15,217 --> 00:02:18,237 and Lenin and his associates 33 00:02:18,285 --> 00:02:23,184 did it in a way that was extremely harsh on Russia – 34 00:02:23,224 --> 00:02:29,505 by separating, severing what is historically Russian land. 35 00:02:31,228 --> 00:02:33,501 Nobody asked the millions of people living there 36 00:02:33,534 --> 00:02:36,281 what they thought, of course. 37 00:02:37,746 --> 00:02:40,890 Then, both before and after the Great Patriotic War, 38 00:02:40,925 --> 00:02:46,162 Stalin incorporated in the USSR and transferred to Ukraine some lands 39 00:02:46,196 --> 00:02:49,216 that previously belonged to Poland, Romania and Hungary. 40 00:02:49,732 --> 00:02:53,262 In the process, he gave Poland part 41 00:02:53,300 --> 00:02:57,545 of what was traditionally German land as compensation, 42 00:02:57,587 --> 00:03:03,268 and in 1954, Khrushchev took Crimea away from Russia for some reason 43 00:03:03,286 --> 00:03:05,558 and also gave it to Ukraine. 44 00:03:06,279 --> 00:03:10,816 In effect, this is how the territory of modern Ukraine was formed. 45 00:03:11,540 --> 00:03:14,519 But now I would like to focus attention 46 00:03:14,549 --> 00:03:17,529 on the initial period of the USSR’s formation. 47 00:03:18,334 --> 00:03:20,804 I believe this is extremely important for us. 48 00:03:21,545 --> 00:03:24,277 I will have to approach it from a distance, so to speak. 49 00:03:25,284 --> 00:03:29,273 I will remind you that after the 1917 October Revolution 50 00:03:29,312 --> 00:03:32,537 and the subsequent Civil War, 51 00:03:32,558 --> 00:03:36,392 the Bolsheviks set about creating a new statehood. 52 00:03:36,459 --> 00:03:39,797 They had rather serious disagreements among themselves on this point. 53 00:03:40,467 --> 00:03:44,242 In 1922, Stalin occupied the positions of both 54 00:03:44,262 --> 00:03:47,711 the General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) 55 00:03:47,757 --> 00:03:50,821 and the People’s Commissar for Ethnic Affairs. 56 00:03:50,852 --> 00:03:54,505 He suggested building the country on the principles of autonomisation 57 00:03:55,291 --> 00:04:00,266 that is, giving the republics – the future administrative and territorial entities – 58 00:04:00,296 --> 00:04:03,855 broad powers upon joining a unified state. 59 00:04:05,261 --> 00:04:10,442 Lenin criticised this plan and suggested making concessions to the nationalists, 60 00:04:10,482 --> 00:04:13,530 whom he called “independents” at that time. 61 00:04:13,808 --> 00:04:18,786 Lenin’s ideas of what amounted in essence to a confederative state arrangement 62 00:04:18,802 --> 00:04:22,745 and a slogan about the right of nations to self-determination, up to secession, 63 00:04:23,303 --> 00:04:26,184 were laid in the foundation of Soviet statehood. 64 00:04:26,944 --> 00:04:29,741 Initially they were confirmed 65 00:04:29,780 --> 00:04:32,962 in the Declaration on the Formation of the USSR in 1922, 66 00:04:33,237 --> 00:04:40,280 and later on, after Lenin’s death, were enshrined in the 1924 Soviet Constitution. 67 00:04:41,824 --> 00:04:44,553 This immediately raises many questions. 68 00:04:44,685 --> 00:04:48,349 The first is really the main one: 69 00:04:48,379 --> 00:04:50,664 why was it necessary to appease the nationalists, 70 00:04:50,693 --> 00:04:55,526 to satisfy the ceaselessly growing nationalist ambitions 71 00:04:55,540 --> 00:04:57,816 on the outskirts of the former empire? 72 00:04:58,698 --> 00:05:02,483 What was the point of transferring to the newly, often arbitrarily formed 73 00:05:02,529 --> 00:05:05,521 administrative units – the union republics – 74 00:05:05,569 --> 00:05:10,362 vast territories that had nothing to do with them? 75 00:05:11,257 --> 00:05:12,975 Let me repeat that these territories 76 00:05:12,985 --> 00:05:16,501 were transferred along with the population of what was historically Russia. 77 00:05:16,501 --> 00:05:19,694 Moreover, these administrative units 78 00:05:19,742 --> 00:05:23,801 were de facto given the status and form of national state entities. 79 00:05:24,753 --> 00:05:26,492 That raises another question: 80 00:05:26,546 --> 00:05:30,977 why was it necessary to make such generous gifts, 81 00:05:31,007 --> 00:05:34,993 beyond the wildest dreams of the most zealous nationalists 82 00:05:35,678 --> 00:05:38,245 and, on top of all that, give the republics the right 83 00:05:38,285 --> 00:05:41,806 to secede from the unified state without any conditions? 84 00:05:42,721 --> 00:05:45,930 At first glance, this looks absolutely incomprehensible, even crazy. 85 00:05:46,493 --> 00:05:48,246 But only at first glance. 86 00:05:48,704 --> 00:05:50,485 There is an explanation. 87 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,825 After the revolution, the Bolsheviks’ main goal 88 00:05:53,877 --> 00:05:58,737 was to stay in power at all costs, absolutely at all costs. 89 00:05:59,772 --> 00:06:02,270 They did everything for this purpose: 90 00:06:02,311 --> 00:06:04,808 accepted the humiliating Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 91 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,176 although the military and economic situation 92 00:06:08,227 --> 00:06:11,733 in Kaiser Germany and its allies was dramatic 93 00:06:11,773 --> 00:06:15,526 and the outcome of the First World War was a foregone conclusion, 94 00:06:15,883 --> 00:06:18,721 and satisfied any demands 95 00:06:18,747 --> 00:06:22,760 and wishes of the nationalists within the country. 96 00:06:23,327 --> 00:06:26,783 When it comes to the historical destiny of Russia and its peoples, 97 00:06:26,824 --> 00:06:31,262 Lenin’s principles of state development were not just a mistake; 98 00:06:31,778 --> 00:06:35,301 they were worse than a mistake, as the saying goes. 99 00:06:35,865 --> 00:06:37,999 This became patently clear 100 00:06:38,030 --> 00:06:42,802 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. 101 00:06:43,743 --> 00:06:47,446 Of course, we cannot change past events, 102 00:06:47,484 --> 00:06:51,423 but we must at least admit them openly and honestly, 103 00:06:51,460 --> 00:06:55,763 without any reservations or politicking. 104 00:06:56,702 --> 00:07:01,929 Personally, I can add that no political factors, 105 00:07:01,976 --> 00:07:07,229 however impressive or profitable they may seem at any given moment, 106 00:07:07,272 --> 00:07:11,728 can or may be used 107 00:07:11,773 --> 00:07:15,139 as the fundamental principles of statehood. 108 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,555 I am not trying to put the blame on anyone. 109 00:07:19,205 --> 00:07:24,504 The situation in the country at that time, both before and after the Civil War, 110 00:07:24,562 --> 00:07:27,709 was extremely complicated; it was critical. 111 00:07:28,461 --> 00:07:32,819 The only thing I would like to say today is that this is exactly how it was. 112 00:07:33,237 --> 00:07:35,340 It is a historical fact! 113 00:07:35,852 --> 00:07:37,711 Actually, as I have already said, 114 00:07:37,751 --> 00:07:42,481 Soviet Ukraine is the result of the Bolsheviks’ policy 115 00:07:42,499 --> 00:07:46,526 and can be rightfully called 116 00:07:46,545 --> 00:07:50,788 “Vladimir Lenin’s Ukraine.” 117 00:07:51,504 --> 00:07:54,492 He was its creator and architect. 118 00:07:55,309 --> 00:07:59,291 This is fully and comprehensively corroborated by archival documents, 119 00:08:00,226 --> 00:08:02,821 including Lenin’s harsh instructions regarding Donbass, 120 00:08:02,856 --> 00:08:05,759 which was actually shoved into Ukraine. 121 00:08:06,745 --> 00:08:12,516 And today the “grateful progeny” has overturned monuments to Lenin in Ukraine. 122 00:08:14,351 --> 00:08:17,189 They call it decommunization. 123 00:08:18,242 --> 00:08:20,293 You want decommunization? 124 00:08:20,463 --> 00:08:23,333 Very well, this suits us just fine. 125 00:08:23,514 --> 00:08:26,285 But there is no need to stop halfway. 126 00:08:26,774 --> 00:08:31,310 We are ready to show what real decommunizations would mean for Ukraine. 127 00:08:33,701 --> 00:08:39,449 Going back to history, I would like to repeat that the Soviet Union 128 00:08:39,466 --> 00:08:43,766 was established in the place of the former Russian Empire in 1922. 129 00:08:44,567 --> 00:08:48,484 But practice showed immediately that it was impossible to preserve 130 00:08:48,521 --> 00:08:52,199 or govern such a vast and complex territory 131 00:08:52,249 --> 00:08:57,505 on the amorphous principles that amounted to confederation. 132 00:08:58,311 --> 00:09:03,509 They were far removed from reality and the historical tradition. 133 00:09:04,123 --> 00:09:08,847 It is logical that the Red Terror and a rapid slide into Stalin’s dictatorship, 134 00:09:08,898 --> 00:09:13,287 the domination of the communist ideology and the Communist Party’s monopoly on power, 135 00:09:13,332 --> 00:09:16,800 nationalisation and the planned economy – 136 00:09:16,836 --> 00:09:20,547 all this transformed the formally declared 137 00:09:20,587 --> 00:09:24,928 but ineffective principles of government into a mere declaration. 138 00:09:26,215 --> 00:09:30,338 In reality, the union republics did not have any sovereign rights, 139 00:09:30,807 --> 00:09:32,262 none at all. 140 00:09:32,616 --> 00:09:36,265 The practical result was the creation of a tightly centralised 141 00:09:36,297 --> 00:09:39,531 and absolutely unitary state. 142 00:09:40,299 --> 00:09:43,440 In fact, what Stalin fully implemented was not Lenin’s 143 00:09:43,506 --> 00:09:48,145 but his own principles of government. 144 00:09:49,285 --> 00:09:52,406 But he did not make the relevant amendments 145 00:09:52,449 --> 00:09:55,259 to the cornerstone documents, to the Constitution, 146 00:09:56,282 --> 00:09:59,736 and he did not formally revise Lenin’s principles 147 00:09:59,772 --> 00:10:02,224 underlying the Soviet Union. 148 00:10:03,189 --> 00:10:06,042 From the look of it, there seemed to be no need for that, 149 00:10:06,081 --> 00:10:08,206 because everything seemed to be working well 150 00:10:08,224 --> 00:10:10,298 in conditions of the totalitarian regime, 151 00:10:10,345 --> 00:10:14,308 and outwardly it looked wonderful, attractive and even super-democratic. 152 00:10:15,604 --> 00:10:18,478 And yet, it is a great pity 153 00:10:18,500 --> 00:10:23,781 that the fundamental and formally legal foundations of our state 154 00:10:23,833 --> 00:10:27,033 were not promptly cleansed of the odious 155 00:10:27,054 --> 00:10:30,138 and utopian fantasies inspired by the revolution, 156 00:10:30,185 --> 00:10:33,512 which are absolutely destructive for any normal state. 157 00:10:34,353 --> 00:10:36,754 As it often happened in our country before, 158 00:10:36,770 --> 00:10:38,812 nobody gave any thought to the future. 159 00:10:40,774 --> 00:10:43,413 It seems that the Communist Party leaders were convinced 160 00:10:43,453 --> 00:10:45,789 that they had created a solid system of government 161 00:10:46,445 --> 00:10:50,802 and that their policies had settled the ethnic issue for good. 162 00:10:51,770 --> 00:10:54,324 But falsification, misconception, 163 00:10:54,378 --> 00:10:59,482 tampering with public opinion and deception have a high cost. 164 00:11:00,350 --> 00:11:04,180 The virus of nationalist ambitions is still with us, 165 00:11:04,246 --> 00:11:07,779 and the mine laid at the initial stage to destroy state immunity 166 00:11:07,835 --> 00:11:11,525 to the disease of nationalism was ticking. 167 00:11:12,252 --> 00:11:13,495 As I have already said, 168 00:11:13,517 --> 00:11:16,280 the mine was the right of secession from the Soviet Union. 169 00:11:16,787 --> 00:11:20,258 In the mid-1980s, 170 00:11:20,304 --> 00:11:23,825 the increasing socioeconomic problems 171 00:11:23,848 --> 00:11:27,433 and the apparent crisis of the planned economy aggravated the ethnic issue, 172 00:11:27,485 --> 00:11:29,484 which essentially was not based 173 00:11:29,524 --> 00:11:32,481 on any expectations or unfulfilled dreams of the Soviet peoples 174 00:11:32,502 --> 00:11:37,269 but primarily the growing appetites of the local elites. 175 00:11:38,500 --> 00:11:42,707 However, instead of analysing the situation, 176 00:11:42,756 --> 00:11:46,280 taking appropriate measures, first of all in the economy, 177 00:11:46,331 --> 00:11:50,487 and gradually transforming the political system and government 178 00:11:50,539 --> 00:11:53,459 in a well-considered and balanced manner, 179 00:11:53,513 --> 00:11:56,472 the Communist Party leadership only engaged in open doubletalk 180 00:11:56,503 --> 00:12:00,129 about the revival of the Leninist principle of national self-determination. 181 00:12:00,927 --> 00:12:05,758 Moreover, in the course of power struggle within the Communist Party itself, 182 00:12:05,794 --> 00:12:10,225 each of the opposing sides, in a bid to expand its support base, 183 00:12:10,264 --> 00:12:14,910 started to thoughtlessly incite and encourage nationalist sentiments, 184 00:12:14,925 --> 00:12:20,520 manipulating them and promising their potential supporters whatever they wished. 185 00:12:20,937 --> 00:12:24,254 Against the backdrop of the superficial and populist rhetoric 186 00:12:24,308 --> 00:12:29,514 about democracy and a bright future based either on a market or a planned economy, 187 00:12:29,580 --> 00:12:33,436 but amid a true impoverishment of people and widespread shortages, 188 00:12:33,510 --> 00:12:35,740 no one among the powers 189 00:12:35,793 --> 00:12:40,264 that be was thinking about the inevitable tragic consequences for the country. 190 00:12:41,115 --> 00:12:44,732 Next, they entirely embarked on the track beaten at the inception of the USSR 191 00:12:44,767 --> 00:12:48,722 and pandering to the ambitions of the nationalist elites 192 00:12:48,756 --> 00:12:50,910 nurtured within their own party ranks. 193 00:12:51,493 --> 00:12:56,108 But in so doing, they forgot that the CPSU no longer had – thank God – 194 00:12:56,124 --> 00:12:59,511 the tools for retaining power and the country itself, 195 00:12:59,553 --> 00:13:03,500 tools such as state terror and a Stalinist-type dictatorship, 196 00:13:03,539 --> 00:13:06,739 and that the notorious guiding role of the party 197 00:13:06,793 --> 00:13:11,729 was disappearing without a trace, like a morning mist, right before their eyes. 198 00:13:12,780 --> 00:13:15,743 And then, the September 1989 199 00:13:15,797 --> 00:13:20,065 plenary session of the CPSU Central Committee approved a truly fatal document, 200 00:13:20,087 --> 00:13:26,323 the so-called ethnic policy of the party in modern conditions, the CPSU platform. 201 00:13:26,833 --> 00:13:30,753 It included the following provisions, I quote: 202 00:13:31,304 --> 00:13:34,255 “The republics of the USSR shall possess all the rights 203 00:13:34,290 --> 00:13:38,501 appropriate to their status as sovereign socialist states.” 204 00:13:39,275 --> 00:13:40,770 The next point: 205 00:13:40,931 --> 00:13:44,151 “The supreme representative bodies of power of the USSR republics 206 00:13:44,197 --> 00:13:48,760 can challenge and suspend the operation of the USSR Government’s 207 00:13:48,773 --> 00:13:51,764 resolutions and directives in their territory.” 208 00:13:52,259 --> 00:13:53,517 And finally: 209 00:13:54,515 --> 00:13:58,707 “Each republic of the USSR shall have citizenship of its own, 210 00:13:58,750 --> 00:14:01,762 which shall apply to all of its residents.” 211 00:14:02,534 --> 00:14:04,014 Wasn’t it clear 212 00:14:04,073 --> 00:14:07,253 what these formulas and decisions would lead to? 213 00:14:08,252 --> 00:14:10,263 Now is not the time or place 214 00:14:10,283 --> 00:14:13,235 to go into matters pertaining to state or constitutional law, 215 00:14:13,287 --> 00:14:16,256 or define the concept of citizenship. 216 00:14:16,724 --> 00:14:18,476 But one may wonder: 217 00:14:18,532 --> 00:14:22,476 why was it necessary to rock the country even more 218 00:14:22,528 --> 00:14:25,287 in that already complicated situation? 219 00:14:26,264 --> 00:14:27,910 The facts remain. 220 00:14:28,525 --> 00:14:31,073 Even two years before the collapse of the USSR, 221 00:14:31,104 --> 00:14:33,809 its fate was actually predetermined. 222 00:14:34,586 --> 00:14:39,246 It is now that radicals and nationalists, including and primarily those in Ukraine, 223 00:14:39,272 --> 00:14:42,506 are taking credit for having gained independence. 224 00:14:42,739 --> 00:14:45,052 As we can see, this is absolutely wrong. 225 00:14:45,281 --> 00:14:47,508 The disintegration of our united country 226 00:14:47,549 --> 00:14:50,191 was brought about by the historic, strategic mistakes 227 00:14:50,207 --> 00:14:53,092 on the part of the Bolshevik leaders and the CPSU leadership, 228 00:14:53,122 --> 00:14:56,064 mistakes committed at different times in state-building 229 00:14:56,109 --> 00:14:58,504 and in economic and ethnic policies. 230 00:14:59,763 --> 00:15:04,544 The collapse of the historical Russia known as the USSR is on their conscience. 231 00:15:06,234 --> 00:15:11,480 Despite all these injustices, lies and outright pillage of Russia, 232 00:15:11,493 --> 00:15:15,745 it was our people who accepted the new geopolitical reality 233 00:15:15,784 --> 00:15:18,413 that took shape after the dissolution of the USSR, 234 00:15:18,458 --> 00:15:20,783 and recognised the new independent states. 235 00:15:21,252 --> 00:15:24,551 Not only did Russia recognise these countries, 236 00:15:24,594 --> 00:15:29,467 but helped its CIS partners, even though it faced a very dire situation itself. 237 00:15:29,506 --> 00:15:31,778 This included our Ukrainian colleagues, 238 00:15:31,798 --> 00:15:35,125 who turned to us for financial support many times 239 00:15:35,142 --> 00:15:38,859 from the very moment they declared independence. 240 00:15:39,552 --> 00:15:42,253 Our country provided this assistance 241 00:15:42,318 --> 00:15:46,326 while respecting Ukraine’s dignity and sovereignty. 242 00:15:47,260 --> 00:15:48,898 According to expert assessments, 243 00:15:48,918 --> 00:15:53,186 confirmed by a simple calculation of our energy prices, 244 00:15:53,213 --> 00:15:57,118 the subsidised loans Russia provided to Ukraine 245 00:15:57,139 --> 00:15:59,800 along with economic and trade preferences, 246 00:15:59,827 --> 00:16:06,453 the overall benefit for the Ukrainian budget in the period from 1991 to 2013 247 00:16:06,474 --> 00:16:09,969 amounted to $250 billion. 248 00:16:10,743 --> 00:16:12,762 However, there was more to it than that. 249 00:16:12,791 --> 00:16:15,242 By the end of 1991, 250 00:16:15,285 --> 00:16:20,687 the USSR owed some $100 billion to other countries 251 00:16:20,718 --> 00:16:23,505 and international funds. 252 00:16:24,122 --> 00:16:27,213 Initially, there was this idea that all former Soviet republics 253 00:16:27,264 --> 00:16:32,180 will pay back these loans together, in the spirit of solidarity 254 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,533 and proportionally to their economic potential. 255 00:16:35,784 --> 00:16:40,436 However, Russia undertook to pay back all Soviet debts 256 00:16:40,468 --> 00:16:42,784 and delivered on this promise 257 00:16:42,820 --> 00:16:47,503 by completing this process in 2017. 258 00:16:48,304 --> 00:16:50,758 In exchange for that, the newly independent states 259 00:16:50,773 --> 00:16:56,029 had to hand over to Russia part of the Soviet foreign assets. 260 00:16:56,095 --> 00:17:02,847 An agreement to this effect was reached with Ukraine in December 1994. 261 00:17:03,570 --> 00:17:07,489 However, Kyiv failed to ratify these agreements 262 00:17:07,546 --> 00:17:10,367 and later simply refused to honour them 263 00:17:10,393 --> 00:17:14,480 by making demands for a share of the Diamond Treasury, gold reserves, 264 00:17:14,502 --> 00:17:18,818 as well as former USSR property and other assets abroad. 265 00:17:19,305 --> 00:17:23,475 Nevertheless, despite all these challenges, 266 00:17:23,518 --> 00:17:28,205 Russia always worked with Ukraine in an open and honest manner 267 00:17:28,239 --> 00:17:31,133 and, as I have already said, with respect for its interests. 268 00:17:31,451 --> 00:17:35,165 We developed our ties in multiple fields. 269 00:17:35,201 --> 00:17:41,295 Thus, in 2011, bilateral trade exceeded $50 billion. 270 00:17:42,273 --> 00:17:47,580 Let me note that in 2019, that is before the pandemic, 271 00:17:47,621 --> 00:17:51,747 Ukraine’s trade with all EU countries combined was below this indicator. 272 00:17:52,356 --> 00:17:55,355 At the same time, it was striking how the Ukrainian authorities 273 00:17:55,385 --> 00:17:58,127 always preferred dealing with Russia in a way that ensured 274 00:17:58,147 --> 00:18:03,430 having all the rights and privileges while remaining free from any obligations. 275 00:18:03,783 --> 00:18:07,530 The officials in Kyiv replaced partnership 276 00:18:07,550 --> 00:18:13,847 with a parasitic attitude acting at times in an extremely brash manner. 277 00:18:14,304 --> 00:18:18,319 Suffice it to recall the continuous blackmail on energy transits 278 00:18:18,344 --> 00:18:20,822 and the fact that they literally stole gas. 279 00:18:21,534 --> 00:18:25,758 I can add that Kyiv tried to use dialogue with Russia 280 00:18:25,783 --> 00:18:28,210 as a bargaining chip in its relations with the West, 281 00:18:28,239 --> 00:18:31,326 using the threat of closer ties with Russia 282 00:18:31,345 --> 00:18:34,175 for blackmailing the West to secure preferences 283 00:18:34,229 --> 00:18:38,540 by claiming that otherwise Russia would have a bigger influence in Ukraine. 284 00:18:38,958 --> 00:18:41,469 At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities – 285 00:18:41,512 --> 00:18:45,782 I would like to emphasise this – began by building their statehood 286 00:18:45,818 --> 00:18:48,966 on the negation of everything that united us, 287 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,526 trying to distort the mentality and historical memory of millions of people, 288 00:18:53,543 --> 00:18:55,824 of entire generations living in Ukraine. 289 00:18:56,792 --> 00:18:59,177 It is not surprising that Ukrainian society 290 00:18:59,197 --> 00:19:01,502 was faced with the rise of far-right nationalism, 291 00:19:01,509 --> 00:19:06,496 which rapidly developed into aggressive Russophobia and neo-Nazism. 292 00:19:07,046 --> 00:19:11,410 This resulted in the participation of Ukrainian nationalists and neo-Nazis 293 00:19:11,444 --> 00:19:14,179 in the terrorist groups in the North Caucasus 294 00:19:15,122 --> 00:19:19,105 and the increasingly loud territorial claims to Russia. 295 00:19:20,285 --> 00:19:22,752 A role in this was played by external forces, 296 00:19:22,783 --> 00:19:26,235 which used a ramified network of NGOs and special services 297 00:19:26,279 --> 00:19:28,715 to nurture their clients in Ukraine 298 00:19:28,733 --> 00:19:31,599 and to bring their representatives to the seats of authority. 299 00:19:32,270 --> 00:19:34,498 It should be noted that Ukraine actually 300 00:19:34,539 --> 00:19:38,530 never had stable traditions of real statehood. 301 00:19:38,788 --> 00:19:45,614 And, therefore, in 1991 it opted for mindlessly emulating foreign models, 302 00:19:45,667 --> 00:19:49,725 which have no relation to history or Ukrainian realities. 303 00:19:50,506 --> 00:19:53,786 Political government institutions were readjusted many times 304 00:19:53,814 --> 00:19:58,745 to the rapidly growing clans and their self-serving interests, 305 00:19:58,785 --> 00:20:02,526 which had nothing to do with the interests of the Ukrainian people. 306 00:20:03,169 --> 00:20:07,414 Essentially, the so-called pro-Western civilizational choice 307 00:20:07,456 --> 00:20:11,713 made by the oligarchic Ukrainian authorities was not and is not aimed 308 00:20:11,741 --> 00:20:15,738 at creating better conditions in the interests of people’s well-being 309 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,510 but at keeping the billions of dollars 310 00:20:18,527 --> 00:20:21,545 that the oligarchs have stolen from the Ukrainians 311 00:20:21,587 --> 00:20:25,219 and are holding in their accounts in Western banks, 312 00:20:25,262 --> 00:20:28,819 while reverently accommodating the geopolitical rivals of Russia. 313 00:20:29,561 --> 00:20:32,218 Some industrial and financial groups 314 00:20:32,265 --> 00:20:34,949 and the parties and politicians on their payroll 315 00:20:34,968 --> 00:20:38,265 relied on the nationalists and radicals from the very beginning. 316 00:20:38,676 --> 00:20:41,501 Others claimed to be in favour of good relations with Russia 317 00:20:41,552 --> 00:20:45,093 and cultural and language diversity, 318 00:20:45,109 --> 00:20:47,820 coming to power with the help of their citizen 319 00:20:47,848 --> 00:20:51,056 who sincerely supported their declared aspirations, 320 00:20:51,109 --> 00:20:54,097 including the millions of people in the south-eastern regions. 321 00:20:54,123 --> 00:20:56,473 But after getting the positions they coveted, 322 00:20:56,506 --> 00:20:58,721 these people immediately betrayed their voters, 323 00:20:58,752 --> 00:21:01,749 going back on their election promises 324 00:21:01,806 --> 00:21:05,468 and instead steering a policy prompted by the radicals 325 00:21:05,501 --> 00:21:08,363 and sometimes even persecuting their former allies – 326 00:21:08,408 --> 00:21:13,306 the public organisations that supported bilingualism and cooperation with Russia. 327 00:21:14,201 --> 00:21:17,236 These people took advantage of the fact that their voters 328 00:21:17,254 --> 00:21:20,220 were mostly law-abiding citizens with moderate views 329 00:21:20,252 --> 00:21:22,469 who used to trust the authorities, 330 00:21:22,499 --> 00:21:25,780 and that, unlike the radicals, they would not act aggressively 331 00:21:25,821 --> 00:21:28,067 or make use of illegal instruments. 332 00:21:28,507 --> 00:21:31,707 Meanwhile, the radicals became increasingly brazen in their actions 333 00:21:31,737 --> 00:21:33,906 and made more demands every year. 334 00:21:34,423 --> 00:21:39,214 They found it easy to force their will on the weak authorities, 335 00:21:39,262 --> 00:21:43,784 which were infected with the virus of nationalism and corruption 336 00:21:43,816 --> 00:21:48,073 as well and which artfully replaced the real cultural, economic 337 00:21:48,117 --> 00:21:52,295 and social interests of the people and Ukraine’s true sovereignty 338 00:21:52,347 --> 00:21:55,479 with various ethnic speculations 339 00:21:55,516 --> 00:21:58,153 and formal ethnic attributes. 340 00:21:58,993 --> 00:22:02,493 A stable statehood has never developed in Ukraine; 341 00:22:02,510 --> 00:22:06,208 its electoral and other political procedures just serve as a cover, 342 00:22:06,248 --> 00:22:09,477 a screen for the redistribution of power and property 343 00:22:09,515 --> 00:22:12,826 between various oligarchic clans. 344 00:22:14,197 --> 00:22:18,478 Corruption, which is certainly a challenge and a problem for many countries, 345 00:22:18,506 --> 00:22:20,223 including Russia, 346 00:22:20,253 --> 00:22:23,786 has gone beyond the usual scope in Ukraine. 347 00:22:24,114 --> 00:22:27,700 It has literally permeated and corroded Ukrainian statehood, 348 00:22:27,715 --> 00:22:29,825 the entire system, and all branches of power. 349 00:22:30,741 --> 00:22:34,207 Radical nationalists took advantage of the justified public discontent 350 00:22:34,254 --> 00:22:40,500 and saddled the Maidan protest, escalating it to a coup d'état in 2014. 351 00:22:41,452 --> 00:22:45,488 They also had direct assistance from foreign states. 352 00:22:45,748 --> 00:22:50,265 According to reports, the US Embassy provided $1 million a day 353 00:22:50,292 --> 00:22:56,170 to support the so-called protest camp on Independence Square in Kyiv. 354 00:22:56,764 --> 00:22:59,479 In addition, large amounts 355 00:22:59,514 --> 00:23:03,497 were impudently transferred directly to the opposition leaders’ bank accounts, 356 00:23:03,519 --> 00:23:06,294 tens of millions of dollars. 357 00:23:06,770 --> 00:23:09,766 But the people who actually suffered, 358 00:23:09,786 --> 00:23:13,516 the families of those who died in the clashes provoked in the streets 359 00:23:13,564 --> 00:23:17,046 and squares of Kyiv and other cities, how much did they get in the end? 360 00:23:17,248 --> 00:23:19,500 Better not ask. 361 00:23:19,749 --> 00:23:21,557 The nationalists who have seized power 362 00:23:21,573 --> 00:23:24,910 have unleashed persecution, a real terror campaign against those 363 00:23:24,929 --> 00:23:28,166 who opposed their anti-constitutional actions. 364 00:23:28,377 --> 00:23:31,939 Politicians, journalists, and public activists 365 00:23:31,959 --> 00:23:34,741 were harassed and publicly humiliated. 366 00:23:35,060 --> 00:23:38,491 A wave of violence swept Ukrainian cities, 367 00:23:38,525 --> 00:23:41,794 including a series of high-profile and unpunished murders. 368 00:23:42,248 --> 00:23:46,732 One shudders at the memories of the terrible tragedy in Odessa, 369 00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:50,501 where peaceful protesters were brutally murdered, 370 00:23:50,535 --> 00:23:53,564 burned alive in the House of Trade Unions. 371 00:23:55,381 --> 00:23:59,459 The criminals who committed that atrocity have never been punished, 372 00:23:59,483 --> 00:24:01,526 and no one is even looking for them. 373 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,175 But we know their names 374 00:24:04,219 --> 00:24:07,939 and we will do everything to punish them, 375 00:24:08,222 --> 00:24:10,283 find them and bring them to justice. 376 00:24:13,127 --> 00:24:16,225 Maidan did not bring Ukraine any closer to democracy and progress. 377 00:24:16,255 --> 00:24:18,241 Having accomplished a coup d'état, 378 00:24:18,268 --> 00:24:22,257 the nationalists and those political forces that supported them 379 00:24:22,275 --> 00:24:24,784 eventually led Ukraine into an impasse, 380 00:24:25,562 --> 00:24:28,222 pushed the country into the abyss of civil war. 381 00:24:28,831 --> 00:24:32,303 Eight years later, the country is split. 382 00:24:32,736 --> 00:24:35,748 Ukraine is struggling with an acute socio-economic crisis. 383 00:24:36,519 --> 00:24:38,489 According to international organizations, 384 00:24:38,522 --> 00:24:43,057 in 2019, 385 00:24:43,106 --> 00:24:47,728 almost 6 million Ukrainians – I emphasize – about 15 percent, 386 00:24:47,745 --> 00:24:51,475 not of the workforce, but of the entire population of that country, 387 00:24:51,505 --> 00:24:55,256 had to go abroad to find work. 388 00:24:55,517 --> 00:25:00,805 Most of them do odd jobs. 389 00:25:01,230 --> 00:25:03,451 The following fact is also revealing: 390 00:25:03,483 --> 00:25:08,252 since 2020, over 60,000 doctors and other health workers 391 00:25:08,281 --> 00:25:11,520 have left the country amid the pandemic. 392 00:25:12,559 --> 00:25:17,697 Since 2014, water bills increased by almost a third, 393 00:25:17,730 --> 00:25:20,104 and energy bills grew several times, 394 00:25:20,131 --> 00:25:23,292 while the price of gas for households surged several dozen times. 395 00:25:24,225 --> 00:25:27,682 Many people simply do not have the money to pay for utilities. 396 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,766 They literally struggle to survive. 397 00:25:30,285 --> 00:25:33,289 What happened? Why is this all happening? 398 00:25:33,507 --> 00:25:36,229 The answer is obvious. 399 00:25:36,259 --> 00:25:41,015 They spent and embezzled the legacy inherited not only from the Soviet era 400 00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:44,530 but also from the Russian Empire. 401 00:25:45,294 --> 00:25:47,671 They lost tens, hundreds of thousands of jobs 402 00:25:47,697 --> 00:25:51,467 which enabled people to earn a reliable income and generate tax revenue, 403 00:25:51,504 --> 00:25:54,768 among other things thanks to close cooperation with Russia. 404 00:25:55,125 --> 00:25:56,961 Sectors including machine building, 405 00:25:57,010 --> 00:26:01,505 instrument engineering, electronics, ship, and aircraft building 406 00:26:01,522 --> 00:26:05,758 have been undermined or destroyed altogether. 407 00:26:05,927 --> 00:26:08,215 There was a time, however, when not only Ukraine, 408 00:26:08,245 --> 00:26:10,960 but the entire Soviet Union took pride in these companies. 409 00:26:11,071 --> 00:26:15,761 In 2021, the Black Sea Shipyard in Nikolayev went out of business. 410 00:26:15,796 --> 00:26:19,233 Its first docks date back to Catherine the Great. 411 00:26:19,884 --> 00:26:21,769 Antonov, the famous manufacturer, 412 00:26:21,805 --> 00:26:25,740 has not made a single commercial aircraft since 2016, 413 00:26:25,752 --> 00:26:29,898 while Yuzhmash, a factory specializing in missile and space equipment, 414 00:26:29,919 --> 00:26:34,253 is nearly bankrupt, as is The Kremenchuk Steel Plant. 415 00:26:34,275 --> 00:26:36,750 This sad list goes on and on. 416 00:26:37,246 --> 00:26:39,142 As for the gas transportation system, 417 00:26:39,185 --> 00:26:41,503 it was built in its entirety by the Soviet Union, 418 00:26:41,542 --> 00:26:44,465 and it has now deteriorated to an extent that using it 419 00:26:44,505 --> 00:26:48,265 creates major risks and comes at a high cost for the environment. 420 00:26:48,691 --> 00:26:50,744 This situation begs the question: 421 00:26:50,778 --> 00:26:52,699 poverty, lack of opportunity, 422 00:26:52,731 --> 00:26:55,935 and lost industrial and technological potential – 423 00:26:55,954 --> 00:26:59,129 is this the pro-Western civilizational choice 424 00:26:59,142 --> 00:27:02,729 they have been using for many years to fool millions of people 425 00:27:02,755 --> 00:27:04,548 with promises of heavenly pastures? 426 00:27:06,228 --> 00:27:09,932 It all came down to a Ukrainian economy in tatters 427 00:27:09,968 --> 00:27:13,247 and outright pillage of the country’s citizens, 428 00:27:13,738 --> 00:27:17,487 while Ukraine itself was placed under external control, 429 00:27:17,769 --> 00:27:21,542 directed not only from the Western capitals 430 00:27:21,575 --> 00:27:24,269 but also on the ground, as the saying goes, 431 00:27:24,319 --> 00:27:28,934 through an entire network of foreign advisors, NGOs, and other institutions 432 00:27:28,951 --> 00:27:30,800 present in Ukraine. 433 00:27:31,266 --> 00:27:35,239 They have a direct bearing on all the key appointments and dismissals 434 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,819 and on all branches of power at all levels, 435 00:27:37,859 --> 00:27:40,253 from the central government down to municipalities, 436 00:27:40,273 --> 00:27:42,754 as well as on state-owned companies and corporations, 437 00:27:42,769 --> 00:27:46,727 including Naftogaz, Ukrenergo, Ukrainian Railways, 438 00:27:46,757 --> 00:27:51,761 Ukroboronprom, Ukrposhta, and the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. 439 00:27:52,543 --> 00:27:55,130 There is no independent judiciary in Ukraine. 440 00:27:55,194 --> 00:27:57,219 The Kyiv authorities, at the West’s demand, 441 00:27:57,270 --> 00:28:00,107 delegated the priority right to select members 442 00:28:00,156 --> 00:28:03,240 of the supreme judicial bodies, the Council of Justice, 443 00:28:03,263 --> 00:28:07,832 and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, to international organizations. 444 00:28:08,930 --> 00:28:13,245 In addition, the United States 445 00:28:13,277 --> 00:28:18,262 directly controls the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, 446 00:28:18,290 --> 00:28:21,010 the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, 447 00:28:21,059 --> 00:28:23,569 the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office 448 00:28:23,590 --> 00:28:25,827 and the High Anti-Corruption Court. 449 00:28:26,234 --> 00:28:28,679 All this is done under the noble pretext 450 00:28:28,701 --> 00:28:31,000 of invigorating efforts against corruption. 451 00:28:31,269 --> 00:28:32,937 All right, 452 00:28:32,978 --> 00:28:34,744 but where are the results? 453 00:28:34,778 --> 00:28:39,286 Corruption is flourishing like never before. 454 00:28:40,215 --> 00:28:44,163 Are the Ukrainian people aware that this is how their country is managed? 455 00:28:44,202 --> 00:28:46,083 Do they realize that their country 456 00:28:46,114 --> 00:28:50,081 has turned not even into a political or economic protectorate 457 00:28:50,106 --> 00:28:53,541 but has been reduced to a colony with a puppet regime? 458 00:28:54,477 --> 00:28:56,571 The state was privatized -- as a result, 459 00:28:56,609 --> 00:28:59,710 the government, which designates itself as the “power of patriots” 460 00:28:59,750 --> 00:29:02,029 no longer acts in a national capacity 461 00:29:02,062 --> 00:29:06,022 and consistently pushes Ukraine towards losing its sovereignty. 462 00:29:06,712 --> 00:29:08,907 The policy to root out the Russian language 463 00:29:08,926 --> 00:29:11,300 and culture and promote assimilation carries on. 464 00:29:11,613 --> 00:29:15,835 The Verkhovna Rada has generated a steady flow of discriminatory bills, 465 00:29:15,874 --> 00:29:19,824 and the law on the so-called indigenous people has already come into force. 466 00:29:19,873 --> 00:29:21,860 People who identify as Russians 467 00:29:21,893 --> 00:29:25,038 and want to preserve their identity, language, and culture 468 00:29:25,058 --> 00:29:27,938 are getting the signal that they are not wanted in Ukraine. 469 00:29:28,753 --> 00:29:31,767 Under the laws on education 470 00:29:31,801 --> 00:29:35,756 and the Ukrainian language as a state language, 471 00:29:35,784 --> 00:29:39,460 the Russian language has no place in schools or public spaces, 472 00:29:39,505 --> 00:29:41,319 even in ordinary shops. 473 00:29:42,139 --> 00:29:45,674 The law on the so-called vetting of officials and purging their ranks 474 00:29:45,693 --> 00:29:49,325 created a pathway for dealing with unwanted civil servants. 475 00:29:49,862 --> 00:29:51,557 There are more and more acts 476 00:29:51,595 --> 00:29:54,494 enabling the Ukrainian military and law enforcement agencies 477 00:29:54,516 --> 00:29:57,293 to crack down on the freedom of speech, 478 00:29:57,326 --> 00:30:00,241 dissent, and going after the opposition. 479 00:30:00,771 --> 00:30:04,795 The world knows the deplorable practice of imposing unilateral illegitimate sanctions 480 00:30:04,815 --> 00:30:08,530 against other countries, foreign individuals, and legal entities. 481 00:30:09,813 --> 00:30:12,718 Ukraine has outperformed its Western masters 482 00:30:12,755 --> 00:30:17,448 by inventing sanctions against its own citizens, companies, 483 00:30:17,479 --> 00:30:21,545 television channels, other media outlets, and even members of parliament. 484 00:30:22,108 --> 00:30:27,058 Kyiv continues to prepare the destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church 485 00:30:27,098 --> 00:30:28,859 of the Moscow Patriarchate. 486 00:30:29,776 --> 00:30:32,439 This is not an emotional judgement; 487 00:30:32,477 --> 00:30:35,502 proof of this can be found in concrete decisions and documents. 488 00:30:36,147 --> 00:30:38,744 The Ukrainian authorities have cynically turned 489 00:30:38,790 --> 00:30:42,105 the tragedy of the schism into an instrument of state policy. 490 00:30:42,771 --> 00:30:46,532 The current authorities do not react to the Ukrainian people’s appeals 491 00:30:46,568 --> 00:30:49,511 to abolish the laws that are infringing on believers’ rights. 492 00:30:49,775 --> 00:30:53,584 Moreover, new draft laws directed against the clergy and millions of parishioners 493 00:30:53,610 --> 00:30:56,473 of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate 494 00:30:56,499 --> 00:30:58,760 have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada. 495 00:30:59,775 --> 00:31:02,209 A few words about Crimea. 496 00:31:02,752 --> 00:31:07,783 The people of the peninsula freely made their choice to be with Russia. 497 00:31:09,110 --> 00:31:14,498 The Kyiv authorities cannot challenge the clearly stated choice of the people, 498 00:31:14,542 --> 00:31:17,353 which is why they have opted for aggressive action, 499 00:31:17,374 --> 00:31:22,762 for activating extremist cells, including radical Islamist organisations, 500 00:31:22,822 --> 00:31:26,254 for sending subversives to stage terrorist attacks 501 00:31:26,295 --> 00:31:28,931 at critical infrastructure facilities, 502 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,563 and for kidnapping Russian citizens. 503 00:31:31,766 --> 00:31:35,265 We have factual proof that such aggressive actions 504 00:31:35,293 --> 00:31:38,304 are being taken with support from Western security services. 505 00:31:38,971 --> 00:31:43,806 In March 2021, a new Military Strategy was adopted in Ukraine. 506 00:31:44,738 --> 00:31:49,207 This document is almost entirely dedicated to confrontation with Russia 507 00:31:49,251 --> 00:31:54,498 and sets the goal of involving foreign states in a conflict with our country. 508 00:31:56,021 --> 00:31:59,133 The strategy stipulates the organisation of what can be described 509 00:31:59,173 --> 00:32:02,550 as a terrorist underground movement in Russia’s Crimea and in Donbass. 510 00:32:03,084 --> 00:32:06,793 It also sets out the contours of a potential war, 511 00:32:07,292 --> 00:32:11,753 which should end, according to the Kyiv strategists, 512 00:32:11,780 --> 00:32:13,400 I quote further: 513 00:32:13,791 --> 00:32:16,722 “with the assistance of the international community 514 00:32:16,741 --> 00:32:19,226 on favourable terms for Ukraine,” 515 00:32:19,645 --> 00:32:24,239 as well as currently expressed in Kyiv, I also quote here – 516 00:32:25,826 --> 00:32:27,728 please, listen carefully – 517 00:32:27,762 --> 00:32:30,776 “with foreign military support 518 00:32:30,824 --> 00:32:33,997 in the geopolitical confrontation with the Russian Federation.” 519 00:32:34,547 --> 00:32:37,521 In fact, this is nothing other than preparation for hostilities 520 00:32:37,554 --> 00:32:39,810 against our country, Russia. 521 00:32:40,175 --> 00:32:42,536 As we know, it has already been stated today 522 00:32:42,575 --> 00:32:46,794 that Ukraine intends to create its own nuclear weapons, 523 00:32:47,506 --> 00:32:49,738 and this is not just bragging. 524 00:32:49,782 --> 00:32:54,243 Ukraine has the nuclear technologies created back in the Soviet times 525 00:32:54,279 --> 00:32:57,667 and delivery vehicles for such weapons, including aircraft, 526 00:32:57,705 --> 00:33:03,547 as well as the Soviet-designed Tochka-U precision tactical missiles 527 00:33:03,562 --> 00:33:05,822 with a range of over 100 kilometres. 528 00:33:05,952 --> 00:33:08,745 But they can do more; it is only a matter of time. 529 00:33:09,530 --> 00:33:12,299 They have had the groundwork for this since the Soviet era. 530 00:33:12,318 --> 00:33:14,920 In other words, acquiring tactical nuclear weapons 531 00:33:14,957 --> 00:33:19,726 will be much easier for Ukraine than for some other states 532 00:33:19,759 --> 00:33:23,285 I am not going to mention here, which are conducting such research, 533 00:33:23,644 --> 00:33:27,231 especially if Kyiv receives foreign technological support. 534 00:33:28,190 --> 00:33:30,063 We cannot rule this out either. 535 00:33:30,251 --> 00:33:33,224 If Ukraine acquires weapons of mass destruction, 536 00:33:33,266 --> 00:33:37,508 the situation in the world and in Europe will drastically change, 537 00:33:37,564 --> 00:33:40,768 especially for us, for Russia. 538 00:33:41,773 --> 00:33:45,090 We cannot but react to this real danger, 539 00:33:45,116 --> 00:33:48,760 all the more so since, let me repeat, Ukraine’s Western patrons 540 00:33:48,799 --> 00:33:51,766 may help it acquire these weapons 541 00:33:51,796 --> 00:33:55,044 to create yet another threat to our country. 542 00:33:55,504 --> 00:34:00,479 We are seeing how persistently the Kyiv regime is being pumped with arms. 543 00:34:00,787 --> 00:34:06,204 Since 2014, the United States alone has spent billions of dollars for this purpose, 544 00:34:06,253 --> 00:34:09,922 including supplies of arms and equipment and training of specialists. 545 00:34:10,811 --> 00:34:15,657 In the last few months, there has been a constant flow of Western weapons 546 00:34:15,702 --> 00:34:19,242 to Ukraine, ostentatiously, with the entire world watching. 547 00:34:21,144 --> 00:34:24,320 Foreign advisors supervise the activities of Ukraine’s armed forces 548 00:34:24,340 --> 00:34:26,832 and special services and we are well aware of this. 549 00:34:26,877 --> 00:34:28,336 Over the past few years, 550 00:34:28,350 --> 00:34:31,870 military contingents of NATO countries have been almost constantly present 551 00:34:31,901 --> 00:34:34,697 on Ukrainian territory under the pretext of exercises. 552 00:34:34,878 --> 00:34:38,901 The Ukrainian troop control system has already been integrated into NATO. 553 00:34:39,250 --> 00:34:42,186 This means that NATO headquarters 554 00:34:42,244 --> 00:34:45,291 can issue direct commands to the Ukrainian armed forces, 555 00:34:45,309 --> 00:34:47,490 even to their separate units and squads. 556 00:34:48,206 --> 00:34:51,710 The United States and NATO have started an impudent development 557 00:34:51,766 --> 00:34:55,575 of Ukrainian territory as a theatre of potential military operations. 558 00:34:55,864 --> 00:34:59,520 Their regular joint exercises are obviously anti-Russian. 559 00:34:59,855 --> 00:35:03,727 Last year alone, over 23,000 troops 560 00:35:03,766 --> 00:35:06,471 and more than a thousand units of hardware were involved. 561 00:35:06,740 --> 00:35:11,730 A law has already been adopted that allows foreign troops 562 00:35:11,768 --> 00:35:16,199 to come to Ukraine in 2022 to take part in multinational drills. 563 00:35:16,497 --> 00:35:19,494 Understandably, these are primarily NATO troops. 564 00:35:20,076 --> 00:35:25,602 This year, at least ten of these joint drills are planned. 565 00:35:26,165 --> 00:35:28,141 Obviously, such undertakings 566 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,744 are designed to be a cover-up for a rapid buildup of the NATO military group 567 00:35:31,786 --> 00:35:33,658 on Ukrainian territory. 568 00:35:33,682 --> 00:35:38,441 This is all the more so since the network of airfields upgraded with US help 569 00:35:38,477 --> 00:35:42,527 in Borispol, Ivano-Frankovsk, Chuguyev and Odessa, to name a few, 570 00:35:42,546 --> 00:35:46,534 is capable of transferring army units in a very short time. 571 00:35:47,072 --> 00:35:49,739 Ukraine’s airspace is open to flights 572 00:35:49,777 --> 00:35:54,247 by US strategic and reconnaissance aircraft and drones 573 00:35:54,297 --> 00:35:57,758 that conduct surveillance over Russian territory. 574 00:35:58,168 --> 00:36:03,476 I will add that the US-built Maritime Operations Centre in Ochakov 575 00:36:03,497 --> 00:36:06,923 makes it possible to support activity by NATO warships, 576 00:36:06,957 --> 00:36:11,700 including the use of precision weapons, against the Russian Black Sea Fleet 577 00:36:11,738 --> 00:36:15,783 and our infrastructure on the entire Black Sea Coast. 578 00:36:16,662 --> 00:36:21,718 At one time, the United States intended to build similar facilities in Crimea 579 00:36:21,739 --> 00:36:25,467 as well but the Crimeans and residents of Sevastopol wrecked these plans. 580 00:36:25,495 --> 00:36:27,699 We will always remember this. 581 00:36:28,553 --> 00:36:31,495 I would like to repeat that today such a centre 582 00:36:31,515 --> 00:36:35,137 has already been deployed in Ochakov. 583 00:36:35,552 --> 00:36:40,483 In the 18th century, soldiers of Alexander Suvorov fought for this city. 584 00:36:40,544 --> 00:36:44,404 Owing to their courage, it became part of Russia. 585 00:36:44,836 --> 00:36:48,035 Also in the 18th century, the lands of the Black Sea littoral, 586 00:36:48,058 --> 00:36:51,469 incorporated in Russia as a result of wars with the Ottoman Empire, 587 00:36:51,491 --> 00:36:53,968 were given the name of Novorossiya (New Russia). 588 00:36:54,016 --> 00:36:57,720 Now attempts are being made to condemn these landmarks of history to oblivion, 589 00:36:57,743 --> 00:37:01,458 along with the names of state and military figures of the Russian Empire 590 00:37:01,491 --> 00:37:05,643 without whose efforts modern Ukraine would not have many big cities 591 00:37:05,665 --> 00:37:07,725 or even access to the Black Sea. 592 00:37:08,285 --> 00:37:11,764 A monument to Alexander Suvorov was recently demolished in Poltava. 593 00:37:12,745 --> 00:37:14,286 What is there to say? 594 00:37:14,875 --> 00:37:17,282 Are you renouncing your own past? 595 00:37:17,834 --> 00:37:21,534 The so-called colonial heritage of the Russian Empire? 596 00:37:21,770 --> 00:37:24,499 Well, in this case, be consistent. 597 00:37:26,746 --> 00:37:30,774 Next, notably, Article 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates 598 00:37:30,810 --> 00:37:33,966 that deploying foreign military bases on its territory is illegal. 599 00:37:34,639 --> 00:37:36,050 However, as it turns out, 600 00:37:36,078 --> 00:37:39,054 this is just a conventionality that can be easily circumvented. 601 00:37:39,866 --> 00:37:43,756 Ukraine is home to NATO training missions 602 00:37:43,801 --> 00:37:47,235 which are, in fact, foreign military bases. 603 00:37:47,808 --> 00:37:51,178 They just called a base a mission and were done with it. 604 00:37:51,487 --> 00:37:56,111 Kyiv has long proclaimed a strategic course on joining NATO. 605 00:37:56,131 --> 00:37:58,506 Indeed, each country is entitled 606 00:37:58,519 --> 00:38:03,264 to pick its own security system and enter into military alliances. 607 00:38:03,758 --> 00:38:06,930 There would be no problem with that, if it were not for one “but.” 608 00:38:07,304 --> 00:38:10,725 International documents expressly stipulate the principle of equal 609 00:38:10,752 --> 00:38:12,764 and indivisible security, 610 00:38:12,792 --> 00:38:17,382 which includes obligations not to strengthen one's own security 611 00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:20,843 at the expense of the security of other states. 612 00:38:22,198 --> 00:38:27,731 This is stated in the 1999 OSCE Charter for European Security 613 00:38:27,785 --> 00:38:32,505 adopted in Istanbul and the 2010 OSCE Astana Declaration. 614 00:38:32,903 --> 00:38:36,185 In other words, the choice of pathways towards ensuring security 615 00:38:36,221 --> 00:38:39,731 should not pose a threat to other states, 616 00:38:39,766 --> 00:38:44,430 whereas Ukraine joining NATO is a direct threat to Russia's security. 617 00:38:45,106 --> 00:38:46,565 Let me remind you 618 00:38:46,589 --> 00:38:51,162 that at the Bucharest NATO summit held in April 2008, 619 00:38:51,190 --> 00:38:54,470 the United States pushed through a decision to the effect that Ukraine 620 00:38:54,484 --> 00:38:57,230 and, by the way, Georgia would become NATO members. 621 00:38:57,269 --> 00:39:01,228 Many European allies of the United States 622 00:39:01,265 --> 00:39:05,876 were well aware of the risks associated with this prospect already then, 623 00:39:05,906 --> 00:39:09,776 but were forced to put up with the will of their senior partner. 624 00:39:10,225 --> 00:39:12,505 The Americans simply used them 625 00:39:12,540 --> 00:39:15,802 to carry out a clearly anti-Russian policy. 626 00:39:16,177 --> 00:39:19,736 A number of NATO member state are still very skeptical 627 00:39:19,784 --> 00:39:21,529 about Ukraine joining NATO. 628 00:39:21,788 --> 00:39:25,740 We are getting signals from some European capitals 629 00:39:25,781 --> 00:39:29,697 telling us not to worry since it will not happen literally overnight. 630 00:39:29,736 --> 00:39:33,364 In fact, our US partners are saying the same thing as well. 631 00:39:33,364 --> 00:39:36,297 “All right, then” we respond, “if it does not happen tomorrow, 632 00:39:36,337 --> 00:39:38,341 then it will happen the day after tomorrow. 633 00:39:38,361 --> 00:39:40,863 What does it change from the historical perspective? 634 00:39:41,163 --> 00:39:42,821 Nothing at all.” 635 00:39:43,289 --> 00:39:47,558 Furthermore, we are aware of the US leadership’s position 636 00:39:47,577 --> 00:39:50,800 and words that active hostilities in eastern Ukraine 637 00:39:50,819 --> 00:39:54,480 do not rule out the possibility of that country joining NATO 638 00:39:54,515 --> 00:39:58,646 if it meets NATO criteria 639 00:39:58,682 --> 00:40:00,542 and overcomes corruption. 640 00:40:01,490 --> 00:40:04,723 All the while, they are trying to convince us over and over again 641 00:40:04,765 --> 00:40:09,149 that NATO is a peace-loving and purely defensive alliance 642 00:40:09,185 --> 00:40:11,308 that poses no threat to Russia. 643 00:40:11,983 --> 00:40:14,467 Again, they want to take their word for it. 644 00:40:14,518 --> 00:40:17,953 But we are well aware of the real value of these words. 645 00:40:18,922 --> 00:40:23,443 In 1990, when German unification was discussed, 646 00:40:23,491 --> 00:40:26,795 the United States promised the Soviet leadership 647 00:40:26,833 --> 00:40:30,750 that NATO jurisdiction or military presence 648 00:40:30,769 --> 00:40:35,837 will not expand one inch to the east 649 00:40:36,216 --> 00:40:38,497 and that the unification of Germany 650 00:40:38,521 --> 00:40:42,454 will not lead to the spread of NATO's military organization to the east. 651 00:40:42,481 --> 00:40:43,702 This is a quote. 652 00:40:45,446 --> 00:40:48,418 They issued lots of verbal assurances, 653 00:40:48,459 --> 00:40:51,251 all of which turned out to be empty phrases. 654 00:40:51,505 --> 00:40:53,738 Later, they began to assure us 655 00:40:53,757 --> 00:40:57,089 that the accession to NATO by Central and Eastern European countries 656 00:40:57,118 --> 00:40:59,671 would only improve relations with Moscow, 657 00:40:59,704 --> 00:41:05,235 relieve these countries of the fears steeped in their bitter historical legacy, 658 00:41:05,265 --> 00:41:09,412 and even create a belt of countries that are friendly towards Russia. 659 00:41:09,964 --> 00:41:12,763 However, the exact opposite happened. 660 00:41:13,023 --> 00:41:15,550 The governments of certain Eastern European countries, 661 00:41:15,570 --> 00:41:18,729 speculating on Russophobia, brought their complexes and stereotypes 662 00:41:18,769 --> 00:41:20,871 about the Russian threat to the Alliance 663 00:41:20,897 --> 00:41:24,163 and insisted on building up the collective defence potentials 664 00:41:24,194 --> 00:41:27,814 and deploying them primarily against Russia. 665 00:41:28,482 --> 00:41:32,231 Worse still, that happened in the 1990s and the early 2000s 666 00:41:32,282 --> 00:41:38,483 when, thanks to our openness and goodwill, 667 00:41:38,527 --> 00:41:42,267 relations between Russia and the West had reached a high level. 668 00:41:42,854 --> 00:41:45,554 Russia has fulfilled all of its obligations, 669 00:41:45,576 --> 00:41:50,466 including the pullout from Germany, from Central and Eastern Europe, 670 00:41:50,494 --> 00:41:55,545 making an immense contribution to overcoming the legacy of the Cold War. 671 00:41:55,796 --> 00:41:59,734 We have consistently proposed various cooperation options, 672 00:41:59,778 --> 00:42:04,520 including in the NATO-Russia Council and the OSCE formats. 673 00:42:04,811 --> 00:42:09,811 Moreover, I will say something I have never said publicly, 674 00:42:10,446 --> 00:42:12,232 I will say it now for the first time. 675 00:42:13,445 --> 00:42:19,620 When then outgoing US President Bill Clinton visited Moscow in 2000, 676 00:42:19,641 --> 00:42:25,800 I asked him how America would feel about admitting Russia to NATO. 677 00:42:27,834 --> 00:42:30,962 I will not reveal all the details of that conversation, 678 00:42:30,997 --> 00:42:35,735 but the reaction to my question was, let us say, quite restrained, 679 00:42:36,700 --> 00:42:40,165 and the Americans’ true attitude to that possibility 680 00:42:40,183 --> 00:42:44,811 can actually be seen from their subsequent steps with regard to our country. 681 00:42:45,781 --> 00:42:49,549 I am referring to the overt support for terrorists in the North Caucasus, 682 00:42:49,599 --> 00:42:54,065 the disregard for our security demands and concerns, 683 00:42:54,124 --> 00:42:56,171 NATO’s continued expansion, 684 00:42:56,207 --> 00:42:59,359 withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, and so on, and so on. 685 00:43:01,268 --> 00:43:05,775 It raises the question: why? What is all this about, what is the purpose? 686 00:43:05,935 --> 00:43:10,478 All right, you do not want to see us as friends or allies, 687 00:43:10,508 --> 00:43:13,001 but why make us an enemy? 688 00:43:14,205 --> 00:43:16,273 There can be only one answer – 689 00:43:16,300 --> 00:43:20,252 this is not about our political regime or anything like that. 690 00:43:20,269 --> 00:43:25,182 They just do not need a big and independent country like Russia around. 691 00:43:25,506 --> 00:43:27,751 This is the answer to all questions. 692 00:43:27,790 --> 00:43:34,188 This is the source of America’s traditional policy towards Russia. 693 00:43:34,456 --> 00:43:37,973 Hence the attitude to all our security proposals. 694 00:43:38,238 --> 00:43:42,455 Today, one glance at the map is enough to see to what extent Western countries 695 00:43:42,485 --> 00:43:46,328 have kept their promise to refrain from NATO’s eastward expansion. 696 00:43:46,785 --> 00:43:48,802 They just cheated. 697 00:43:49,425 --> 00:43:53,263 We have seen five waves of NATO expansion, one after another – 698 00:43:53,319 --> 00:43:58,699 Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were admitted in 1999; 699 00:43:58,762 --> 00:44:04,803 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2004; 700 00:44:04,841 --> 00:44:07,423 Albania and Croatia in 2009; 701 00:44:07,494 --> 00:44:12,302 Montenegro in 2017; and North Macedonia in 2020. 702 00:44:12,768 --> 00:44:15,473 As a result, the Alliance, its military infrastructure 703 00:44:15,509 --> 00:44:18,521 has reached Russia’s borders. 704 00:44:18,999 --> 00:44:23,264 This is one of the key causes of the European security crisis; 705 00:44:23,303 --> 00:44:25,613 it has had the most negative impact 706 00:44:25,638 --> 00:44:28,088 on the entire system of international relations 707 00:44:28,109 --> 00:44:30,750 and led to the loss of mutual trust. 708 00:44:31,256 --> 00:44:35,572 The situation continues to deteriorate, including in the strategic area. 709 00:44:35,724 --> 00:44:38,300 Thus, positioning areas for interceptor missiles 710 00:44:38,340 --> 00:44:41,059 are being established in Romania and Poland 711 00:44:41,094 --> 00:44:44,803 as part of the US project to create a global missile defence system. 712 00:44:45,303 --> 00:44:48,634 It is common knowledge that the launchers deployed there 713 00:44:48,670 --> 00:44:52,483 can be used for Tomahawk cruise missiles – 714 00:44:52,503 --> 00:44:54,751 offensive strike systems. 715 00:44:55,270 --> 00:44:57,738 In addition, the United States is developing 716 00:44:57,757 --> 00:45:04,044 its all-purpose Standard Missile-6, which can provide air and missile defence, 717 00:45:04,073 --> 00:45:07,120 as well as strike ground and surface targets. 718 00:45:07,380 --> 00:45:10,519 In other words, the allegedly defensive US missile defence system 719 00:45:10,577 --> 00:45:15,334 is developing and expanding its new offensive capabilities. 720 00:45:15,611 --> 00:45:18,527 The information we have gives us good reason to believe 721 00:45:18,567 --> 00:45:20,786 that Ukraine’s accession to NATO 722 00:45:20,822 --> 00:45:24,732 and the subsequent deployment of NATO facilities 723 00:45:24,768 --> 00:45:27,264 has already been decided 724 00:45:28,486 --> 00:45:30,242 and is only a matter of time. 725 00:45:30,993 --> 00:45:33,768 We clearly understand that given this scenario, 726 00:45:33,790 --> 00:45:36,060 the level of military threats to Russia 727 00:45:36,083 --> 00:45:38,813 will increase dramatically, several times over. 728 00:45:38,977 --> 00:45:41,116 And I would like to emphasise at this point 729 00:45:41,137 --> 00:45:44,876 that the risk of a sudden strike at our country will multiply. 730 00:45:45,497 --> 00:45:49,479 I will explain that American strategic planning documents – 731 00:45:49,515 --> 00:45:55,469 documents! - confirm the possibility of a so-called preemptive strike 732 00:45:55,507 --> 00:45:57,768 at enemy missile systems. 733 00:45:58,315 --> 00:46:02,381 We also know the main adversary of the United States and NATO. 734 00:46:02,432 --> 00:46:03,805 It is Russia. 735 00:46:04,288 --> 00:46:07,208 NATO documents officially declare our country 736 00:46:07,230 --> 00:46:11,731 to be the main threat to Euro-Atlantic security. 737 00:46:12,259 --> 00:46:16,918 Ukraine will serve as an advanced bridgehead for such a strike. 738 00:46:17,526 --> 00:46:22,548 If our ancestors heard about this, they would probably simply not believe this. 739 00:46:23,078 --> 00:46:28,530 We do not want to believe this today either, but it is what it is. 740 00:46:28,844 --> 00:46:33,758 I would like people in Russia and Ukraine to understand this. 741 00:46:34,468 --> 00:46:38,744 Many Ukrainian airfields are located not far from our borders. 742 00:46:38,770 --> 00:46:43,125 NATO’s tactical aviation deployed there, including precision weapon carriers, 743 00:46:43,167 --> 00:46:45,979 will be capable of striking at our territory to the depth of 744 00:46:46,012 --> 00:46:48,138 the Volgograd-Kazan-Samara-Astrakhan line. 745 00:46:48,608 --> 00:46:52,794 The deployment of reconnaissance radars on Ukrainian territory 746 00:46:52,832 --> 00:46:56,496 will allow NATO to tightly control Russia’s airspace 747 00:46:56,526 --> 00:46:58,056 up to the Urals. 748 00:46:58,218 --> 00:47:03,115 Finally, after the US destroyed the INF Treaty, 749 00:47:03,161 --> 00:47:08,933 the Pentagon has been openly developing many land-based attack weapons, 750 00:47:08,968 --> 00:47:12,240 including ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting targets 751 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,272 at a distance of up to 5,500 km. 752 00:47:15,565 --> 00:47:19,504 If deployed in Ukraine, such systems will be able to hit targets 753 00:47:19,546 --> 00:47:23,312 in Russia’s entire European part. 754 00:47:24,051 --> 00:47:27,456 The flying time of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Moscow 755 00:47:27,507 --> 00:47:29,502 will be less than 35 minutes; 756 00:47:29,523 --> 00:47:33,245 ballistic missiles from Kharkov will take seven to eight minutes; 757 00:47:33,291 --> 00:47:37,231 and hypersonic assault weapons, four to five minutes! 758 00:47:37,281 --> 00:47:39,770 It is like … 759 00:47:39,790 --> 00:47:41,507 a knife to the throat. 760 00:47:41,938 --> 00:47:46,650 I have no doubt that they hope to carry out these plans, 761 00:47:46,683 --> 00:47:51,813 as they did many times in the past, expanding NATO eastward, 762 00:47:51,835 --> 00:47:55,986 moving their military infrastructure to Russian borders 763 00:47:56,022 --> 00:48:00,550 and fully ignoring our concerns, protests and warnings. 764 00:48:01,837 --> 00:48:05,264 Excuse me, but they simply did not care at all about such things 765 00:48:05,296 --> 00:48:07,219 and did whatever they deemed necessary. 766 00:48:07,242 --> 00:48:11,191 Of course, they are going to behave in the same way in the future, 767 00:48:11,406 --> 00:48:14,827 following a well-known proverb: “The dogs bark but the caravan goes on.” 768 00:48:15,273 --> 00:48:20,478 Let me say right away – we do not accept this behaviour and will never accept it. 769 00:48:20,703 --> 00:48:22,295 That said, Russia has always 770 00:48:22,316 --> 00:48:25,167 advocated the resolution of the most complicated problems 771 00:48:25,202 --> 00:48:29,034 by political and diplomatic means, at the negotiating table. 772 00:48:29,335 --> 00:48:32,067 We are well aware of our enormous responsibility 773 00:48:32,107 --> 00:48:34,542 when it comes to regional and global stability. 774 00:48:34,826 --> 00:48:36,486 Back in 2008, 775 00:48:36,530 --> 00:48:40,992 Russia put forth an initiative to conclude a European Security Treaty 776 00:48:41,996 --> 00:48:45,252 under which not a single Euro-Atlantic state 777 00:48:45,293 --> 00:48:48,200 or international organisation 778 00:48:48,235 --> 00:48:51,931 could strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others. 779 00:48:53,531 --> 00:48:57,289 However, our proposal was rejected right off the bat 780 00:48:58,368 --> 00:49:02,235 on the pretext that Russia should not be allowed to put limits on NATO activities. 781 00:49:02,437 --> 00:49:07,247 Furthermore, it was made explicitly clear to us that only NATO members 782 00:49:07,270 --> 00:49:10,164 can have legally binding security guarantees. 783 00:49:11,754 --> 00:49:14,234 Last December, 784 00:49:14,277 --> 00:49:16,923 we handed over to our Western partners a draft treaty 785 00:49:16,950 --> 00:49:20,253 between the Russian Federation and the United States of America 786 00:49:20,278 --> 00:49:21,992 on security guarantees, 787 00:49:22,014 --> 00:49:24,990 as well as a draft agreement on measures to ensure the security 788 00:49:25,018 --> 00:49:27,770 of the Russian Federation and NATO member states. 789 00:49:28,256 --> 00:49:32,492 The United States and NATO responded with general statements. 790 00:49:33,186 --> 00:49:35,755 There were kernels of rationality in them as well, 791 00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:38,609 but they concerned matters of secondary importance 792 00:49:38,630 --> 00:49:41,698 and it all looked like an attempt to drag the issue out 793 00:49:41,723 --> 00:49:43,790 and to lead the discussion astray. 794 00:49:44,449 --> 00:49:47,513 We responded to this accordingly 795 00:49:47,545 --> 00:49:51,280 and pointed out that we were ready to follow the path of negotiations, 796 00:49:51,309 --> 00:49:53,188 provided, however, that all issues 797 00:49:53,209 --> 00:49:58,346 are considered as a package that includes Russia’s core proposals 798 00:49:58,759 --> 00:50:01,897 which contain three key points. 799 00:50:02,526 --> 00:50:05,726 First, to prevent further NATO expansion. 800 00:50:05,969 --> 00:50:08,543 Second, to have the Alliance refrain 801 00:50:08,583 --> 00:50:11,767 from deploying assault weapon systems on Russian borders. 802 00:50:12,162 --> 00:50:13,240 And finally, 803 00:50:13,261 --> 00:50:16,683 rolling back the bloc's military capability and infrastructure in Europe 804 00:50:16,723 --> 00:50:22,677 to where they were in 1997, when the NATO-Russia Founding Act was signed. 805 00:50:23,291 --> 00:50:27,559 These principled proposals of ours have been ignored. 806 00:50:28,778 --> 00:50:32,050 To reiterate, our Western partners 807 00:50:32,103 --> 00:50:37,970 have once again vocalised the all-too-familiar formulas 808 00:50:37,997 --> 00:50:42,489 that each state is entitled to freely choose ways to ensure its security 809 00:50:42,526 --> 00:50:45,769 or to join any military union or alliance. 810 00:50:46,540 --> 00:50:50,429 That is, nothing has changed in their stance, 811 00:50:50,451 --> 00:50:55,499 we keep hearing the same old references to NATO’s notorious “open door” policy. 812 00:50:55,784 --> 00:50:59,495 Moreover, they are again trying to blackmail us 813 00:50:59,539 --> 00:51:01,787 and are threatening us with sanctions, 814 00:51:01,810 --> 00:51:05,483 which, by the way, they will introduce no matter what 815 00:51:05,504 --> 00:51:10,578 as Russia continues to strengthen its sovereignty and its Armed Forces. 816 00:51:10,760 --> 00:51:15,726 To be sure, they will never think twice before coming up with 817 00:51:15,743 --> 00:51:18,604 or just fabricating a pretext for yet another sanction attack 818 00:51:18,630 --> 00:51:20,986 regardless of the developments in Ukraine. 819 00:51:21,015 --> 00:51:24,232 Their one and only goal is to hold back the development of Russia. 820 00:51:24,493 --> 00:51:28,160 And they will keep doing so, just as they did before, 821 00:51:28,883 --> 00:51:34,264 even without any formal pretext just because we exist 822 00:51:34,312 --> 00:51:40,277 and will never compromise our sovereignty, national interests or values. 823 00:51:40,899 --> 00:51:43,473 I would like to be clear and straightforward: 824 00:51:43,509 --> 00:51:45,133 in the current circumstances, 825 00:51:45,176 --> 00:51:48,480 when our proposals for an equal dialogue on fundamental issues 826 00:51:48,502 --> 00:51:52,284 have actually remained unanswered by the United States and NATO, 827 00:51:52,326 --> 00:51:55,780 when the level of threats to our country has increased significantly, 828 00:51:55,810 --> 00:52:01,513 Russia has every right to respond in order to ensure its security. 829 00:52:01,896 --> 00:52:04,762 That is exactly what we will do. 830 00:52:06,663 --> 00:52:10,235 With regard to the state of affairs in Donbass, 831 00:52:10,267 --> 00:52:13,187 we see that the ruling Kyiv elites 832 00:52:13,245 --> 00:52:16,503 never stop publicly making clear their unwillingness to comply 833 00:52:16,545 --> 00:52:20,040 with the Minsk Package of Measures to settle the conflict 834 00:52:20,078 --> 00:52:22,491 and are not interested in a peaceful settlement. 835 00:52:22,536 --> 00:52:27,170 On the contrary, they are trying to orchestrate a blitzkrieg in Donbass 836 00:52:27,194 --> 00:52:31,818 as was the case in 2014 and 2015. 837 00:52:32,256 --> 00:52:35,514 We all know how these reckless schemes ended. 838 00:52:36,059 --> 00:52:37,752 Now, not a single day goes 839 00:52:37,792 --> 00:52:40,937 by without Donbass communities coming under shelling attacks. 840 00:52:41,007 --> 00:52:43,808 The recently formed large military force 841 00:52:43,854 --> 00:52:48,611 makes use of attack drones, heavy equipment, missiles, artillery 842 00:52:48,668 --> 00:52:50,539 and multiple rocket launchers. 843 00:52:50,997 --> 00:52:54,892 The killing of civilians, the blockade, the abuse of people, 844 00:52:54,931 --> 00:52:58,948 including children, women and the elderly, continues unabated. 845 00:52:59,749 --> 00:53:02,748 As we say, there is no end in sight to this. 846 00:53:03,538 --> 00:53:08,172 Meanwhile, the so-called civilised world, which our Western colleagues 847 00:53:08,225 --> 00:53:11,442 proclaimed themselves the only representatives of, 848 00:53:11,482 --> 00:53:14,250 prefers not to see this, 849 00:53:14,274 --> 00:53:19,227 as if this horror and genocide, which almost 4 million people are facing, 850 00:53:19,252 --> 00:53:22,084 do not exist. 851 00:53:22,511 --> 00:53:26,265 But they do exist and only because these people did not agree 852 00:53:26,296 --> 00:53:30,181 with the West-supported coup in Ukraine in 2014 853 00:53:30,222 --> 00:53:37,759 and opposed the transition towards the Neanderthal and aggressive nationalism 854 00:53:37,779 --> 00:53:43,810 and neo-Nazism which have been elevated in Ukraine to the rank of national policy. 855 00:53:44,090 --> 00:53:47,582 They are fighting for their elementary right to live on their own land, 856 00:53:47,615 --> 00:53:52,272 to speak their own language, and to preserve their culture and traditions. 857 00:53:53,071 --> 00:53:55,500 How long can this tragedy continue? 858 00:53:56,747 --> 00:53:58,964 How much longer can one put up with this? 859 00:53:59,569 --> 00:54:03,732 Russia has done everything to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity. 860 00:54:03,766 --> 00:54:07,135 All these years, it has persistently and patiently pushed for the implementation 861 00:54:07,174 --> 00:54:12,701 of UN Security Council Resolution 2202 of February 17, 2015, 862 00:54:12,746 --> 00:54:17,011 which consolidated the Minsk Package of Measures of February 12, 2015, 863 00:54:17,040 --> 00:54:19,522 to settle the situation in Donbass. 864 00:54:19,746 --> 00:54:21,309 Everything was in vain! 865 00:54:21,791 --> 00:54:24,457 Presidents and Rada deputies come and go, 866 00:54:24,476 --> 00:54:28,247 but deep down the aggressive and nationalistic regime 867 00:54:28,293 --> 00:54:31,703 that seized power in Kyiv remains unchanged. 868 00:54:31,752 --> 00:54:36,824 It is entirely a product of the 2014 coup, 869 00:54:37,386 --> 00:54:43,162 and those who then embarked on the path of violence, bloodshed and lawlessness 870 00:54:43,185 --> 00:54:45,373 did not recognise then and do not recognise now 871 00:54:45,393 --> 00:54:48,210 any solution to the Donbass issue other than a military one. 872 00:54:50,286 --> 00:54:57,059 In this regard, I consider it necessary to take a long overdue decision 873 00:54:57,119 --> 00:55:00,464 and to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty 874 00:55:00,499 --> 00:55:04,573 of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic. 875 00:55:05,253 --> 00:55:08,348 I would like to ask the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation 876 00:55:08,378 --> 00:55:11,234 to support this decision and then ratify 877 00:55:11,257 --> 00:55:16,268 the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance with both republics. 878 00:55:16,954 --> 00:55:21,275 These two documents will be prepared and signed shortly. 879 00:55:23,741 --> 00:55:27,470 And from those who seized and continue to hold power in Kiev, 880 00:55:27,516 --> 00:55:31,055 we demand an immediate cessation of hostilities. 881 00:55:31,585 --> 00:55:36,713 Otherwise, the responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodshed 882 00:55:36,758 --> 00:55:41,798 will lie entirely on the conscience of Ukraine’s ruling regime. 883 00:55:43,218 --> 00:55:46,253 As I announce the decisions taken today, 884 00:55:46,269 --> 00:55:48,791 I remain confident in the support of Russia’s citizens 885 00:55:48,791 --> 00:55:50,562 and the country’s patriotic forces. 886 00:55:51,926 --> 00:55:53,911 Thank you.