Putin: They started the war, and we used force to stop it

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine, allegedly subjugated by the West, started the war against Russia, and the Kremlin began to use force, expecting strikes on Russia’s "historic lands" that were occupied by it.

Source: Vladimir Putin, in an address to the members of the Federal Assembly, senators and parliamentarians of the State Duma on 21 February

Quote: "I am delivering this message at a difficult and crucial time for our country. During a period of fundamental, irreversible changes throughout the world and the most important historical events that determine the future of our country and our people.

A year ago, in order to protect people on our historic lands, to guarantee the security of our country and to eliminate the threat that came from the neo-Nazi regime that developed after the revolution in 2014, a decision was made to conduct a special military operation.

And we will solve the tasks we face step by step, carefully and consistently."

Details: Putin said that since 2014, Donbas has been "defending the right to live on its land and speak their native language" and "believed and expected that Russia would come to rescue it."

The Russian dictator assures his citizens that he was doing "everything possible to solve this problem by peaceful means"; he negotiated a peaceful way out of the conflict, but behind Russia’s back "a completely different scenario was being prepared", and the assurances of Western leaders in the pursuit of peace allegedly turned out to be a "fake" and a "harsh lie".

According to Putin, the West "taught" Ukrainian officers, supplied weapons and, even before the invasion of the Russian Federation, was negotiating the supply of air defence systems, combat aircraft and other heavy equipment to Kyiv. Putin never gets tired of repeating that Kyiv wanted to get "nuclear weapons".

The Russian President continues to claim that the US and NATO deployed their army bases and "secret biolaboratories" near the Russian border, and during manoeuvres they "worked out the theatre of future military operations, preparing Ukraine, which they had enslaved, for a major war".

Putin stated that "when Russia was sincerely seeking a peaceful solution, they (Western leaders) played with people's lives with marked cards."

As Putin said, "they behaved just as shamelessly and cunningly, destroying Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria". Putin believes that the West "is used to being allowed to do everything; it is used to not caring about the whole world".

He claims that in the modern world "there should be no division between the so-called civilised countries and all the others" and that there should be "an honest partnership that denies any exclusivity, especially an aggressive one".

Quote: "In December 2021, we officially sent draft security assurance treaties to the United States and NATO. But we received a direct refusal on all the key and fundamental positions for us. Then it finally became clear that they had been given the go-ahead for the implementation of aggressive plans and were not going to stop.

The threat was growing every day. The incoming information left no doubt that by February 2022, everything was ready for another punitive action in Donbas, against which the Kyiv regime used artillery, tanks, and planes back in 2014... In 2015, they again attempted a direct attack on Donbas while continuing the blockade, shelling, and terrorising civilians…

They had unleashed the war, and we used force and are still using it to stop it.

Those who planned a new attack on Donetsk and Luhansk clearly understood that the next goal would be an attack on Crimea and Sevastopol. And we knew and understood it. And now Kyiv is also talking openly about such far-reaching plans. They have opened up."

Details: According to Putin, the Russian Federation protects people's lives and "its home," while the West's goals are "unlimited power".

The Russian dictator has kept silent about his desire to have unlimited power and dictate his terms to the world.

Background: For decades, Russia has been conducting informational and propaganda work in the territories it considers to be its sphere of interest. In February 2014, the Russian Federation began the annexation of Crimea and, in the spring of the same year, the occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

On 1 March 2014, Putin officially received permission to send Russian troops to the territory of Crimea.

After eight years of hybrid war, on 21 February 2022, Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognising the so-called "DPR" [self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic] and "LPR" [self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic], and on 24 February, he started a full-scale invasion into Ukraine.

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