During a meeting with regional leaders across Russia on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin reiterated his rationale for invading Ukraine, claiming that the Kyiv government’s human rights track record in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, and repeated disregard for international treaties, had left Moscow with no choice but to invade.
According to Putin, the Ukrainian government’s large-scale punitive measures in the Russia-backed separatist territory of Donbas over the last eight years amounts to genocide. He criticised various Ukrainian policies, particularly the imposition of laws that restrict the use of native language in Donbas.
Rubble under Putin :#Russia
— Inga Rosinska (@Inga_Rosinska) March 17, 2022
pic.twitter.com/1nRr0CGXog
Putin also slammed Ukraine’s disregard for the Minsk Agreements and its plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a Western military alliance led by the United States (US). Putin remarked that these actions set the “pro-Nazi” Ukrainian government on the path to obtain nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction in the “foreseeable future,” presenting a direct threat to Russia’s security.
Additionally, Putin raised concerns over an alleged military-biological programme that Ukraine is running with financial backing from the US, and accused it of planning biological warfare. Putin also claimed that the US and Ukraine were “purposefully preparing for a scenario of force” in Donbas and then in Crimea.
I have translated and added subtitles to the latest video speech by Vladimir Putin from two hours ago. Please don’t let it go in vain - I want everyone to see what a speech of true fascism looks like.
— Michael Elgort 🤍❤️🤍🇺🇦✡️ (@just_whatever) March 16, 2022
No further comment needed, it’s all here, in his speech pic.twitter.com/QEzsG9BODX
Therefore, the Russian President deemed his military intervention in Ukraine an absolute necessity, adding that Moscow was left with “no peaceful alternative,” as the US and Ukraine had dismissed all diplomatic attempts made by Russia to resolve the situation.
Talking about the Russian military’s ongoing war in Ukraine, which Moscow insists on calling a “special military operation,” Putin noted that Russian troops are carrying out their plans successfully and with “strict conformity.” Furthermore, he stated that he had offered Ukraine the opportunity to withdraw their troops from Donbas, before alleging that Ukrainian forces have killed 14,000 civilians in the region over the last eight years, including children.
My hometown Volnovakha has ceased to exist as a human settlement.
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 12, 2022
Russia has completely destroyed a rapidly developing, 100% Russian-speaking city of Donbas.
1881-2022.
Rest In Peace, my sweet old hometown. pic.twitter.com/8H7jjg2xvQ
In an effort to highlight the Western media’s hypocrisy, Putin mentioned that Ukraine’s recent missile strike in the centre of Donetsk, which killed 20 people, was largely overlooked by Western news outlets. The Russian leader compared Ukraine’s behaviour to that of the Nazis, declaring that they have ‘morally degraded’ and ‘totally dehumanised’ the people of Donbas.
Furthermore, Putin highlighted that if Russia had limited the scope of its military intervention only to Donbas, the conflict with Ukraine would have continued “indefinitely,” adding that even NATO could have gotten involved fuelled by the “revanchist hysteria” of Kyiv. He noted that this is why the Russian government sent its troops beyond the borders of Donbas—describing it as a tactic aimed at keeping NATO at bay, ensuring Russia’s security, and ultimately avoiding Donbas from becoming an area of protracted conflict.
However, Putin also made it clear that Russia has not closed its door to diplomacy, saying that it will enter discussions that address matters of essential importance to Moscow. He outlined “Ukraine’s status as a neutral country, and demilitarisation and denazification” as issues central to Russia’s agenda.
This is definitely progress. But it's a very difficult process.
— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 16, 2022
It's very hard to see how they could ever agree on Crimea and Donbas – Ukraine can't give up the territory.
And Kyiv worries Russia could just be playing for time to replenish its army and start a new offensive.
Towards the end of his speech, Putin took aim at Western financial and trade sanctions, claiming that they have backfired and resulted in higher fuel, energy, and food prices in Europe and the US. Directly addressing ordinary Western people, Putin asserted that Russia is not to be blamed for Western domestic conditions, adding that their governments are lying to them about the “Russia threat.” Putin also said that the Western government’s hype surrounding Russia’s actions in Ukraine is just another way to serve their self-interests and hide the shortcomings and failures of the “Western welfare society,” which he called the “golden billion.”