Vladamir Putin today accused the West of trying to start a “global” war and made a veiled nuclear threat as he rambled his way through a deranged speech. The deluded dictator, 70, delivered his state-of-the-nation address to Russia just days before the first anniversary of his bloody war in Ukraine.
Putin delivered his highly anticipated and venom-filled speech as tonight Joe Biden will rally support for Ukraine in Poland. The highly symbolic duelling addresses come at a time of unprecedented international tensions.
Vlad’s gamble to invade Ukraine has put the world on the sharpest knife edge since the Cold War. And while his speech was a near two hour diatribe, the central message was clear – he blames the West for the war in Ukraine.
The address even suffered a blackout as a major state TV channel suffered an apparent hack attack. But in one of the most extraordinary moments, Putin made a veiled threat to use nukes.
He claimed the very existence of Russia is now at stake – something considered a red line for the Kremlin. “The goal of the West is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, to end us once and for all,” raged Putin.
“We will react accordingly because we are talking about the existence of our country.” Moscow’s nuclear doctrine clearly states their forces can use nuclear weapons when the country’s “very existence” is at risk.
Elsewhere in the speech, Putin also vowed Russia would ditch participation in a key arms control treaty – further ramping up the nuclear danger with the West. The New START treaty caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the US and Russia can deploy.
And it controls the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them. Putin also pledged to restart nuclear testing if the US did the same.
Flanked by four Russian tricolor flags on either side, Putin went on: “[The West] intend to translate the local conflict into a global confrontation, we understand it this way and will react accordingly.”
His speech came as fears loom Russian is about launch a major new offensive in bid to break the bloody deadlock with Kyiv. Meanwhile, Biden – fresh off his visit to Kyiv – will give his speech tonight at the Royal Castle Poland. The last time Biden spoke there – he said: “For God’s sake, [Putin] cannot remain in power.” Pinballing between topics, Vlad doubled down on his bloody war – which has seen an estimated nearly 150,000 of his soldiers die. (SOURCE)
