Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted Western nations on Thursday, October 27th, during a speech near Moscow, escalating his war rhetoric and blaming the West for the war in Ukraine.
His remarks were delivered at the Valdai Club, a Kremlin-aligned foreign policy think tank.
He accused the West of “stoking … war in Ukraine, the provocations around Taiwan, and the destabilisation of the global food and energy markets … the destruction of the pan-European gas pipelines” and of ignoring Russia’s security concerns through NATO expansion.
“Power over the world is what the so-called West is banking on in its own game. But this is a dangerous game. It’s a bloody game and it’s a dirty game. It denies all the sovereignties of countries, and their uniqueness, it doesn’t take into consideration the interests of other countries,” Putin said.
He also addressed the recent Russian accusations that Ukraine was planning to use a “dirty bomb,” a bomb laced with nuclear material.
Without providing more details, Putin restated his claim made last week to the U.S., the UK, and France that Russia knew “about an incident with a so-called ‘dirty bomb’ being prepared,”. and that Russia knew “where, generally, it was being prepared.”
Ukraine responded by stating Russia’s accusation proved Putin was planning to use nuclear weapons, which precipitated calling on the UN to invoke the Budapest Memorandum that requires the UK and the U.S. to respond to a nuclear threat against Ukraine.
In his speech, Putin asserted that claims about Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons were meant to show “what a bad country Russia is,” to malign his country within the international community.
“We have never said anything about the possible use of nuclear weapons by Russia, but only hinted at the statements made by the leaders of western countries,” Putin said in his remarks.
The day before his address in Moscow, Putin had overseen routine exercises involving a supposed nuclear strike in retaliation for an enemy’s nuclear attack.
He also targeted the U.S. and the UK, referring to comments made by short-lived British prime minister Liz Truss who said she was prepared to use nuclear weapons against Russia if necessary—words Putin referred to as “nuclear blackmail.”
“Well, let’s say she blurted out there—the girl seems to be a little out of her mind,” said Putin. “How can you say such things in public?”
He also blamed the U.S. for not distancing itself from such remarks and UK policy.
He then warned: “We are standing at a historical frontier: Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of World War II.”
Putin was also asked about the costs of the war to Russia.
“Of course, we have some problems. First of all, it deals with our losses due to special military operations. I’m always thinking of the human lives lost,” he said. “But we have economic losses too, but we also have massive gains. What is happening now, without any doubt, and I want to emphasise at the end of the day, will be for the good of Russia and its future. It’s connected to the strengthening of our sovereignty in every way, and in this case in the economic sphere,” he said.
Russia has been desperate to recruit soldiers to continue the war.
Western analysts remain sceptical of Russia.
“What we saw and heard today was the world according to Vladimir Putin. It is a world in which Russia is squeaky clean and the West is to blame for everything, from the war in Ukraine to the global food crisis,” wrote the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg. “For me, perhaps the most telling comment was about the “losses” President Putin admitted to having suffered in his ‘special military operation.’”
“No hint of remorse or regret. No sign of any U-turns,” he concluded.
“It’s almost like rehearsing a defence speech at the International Tribunal in The Hague or Nuremberg,” Rinkevičs, Latvian Foreign Minister said.
