transcript of

https://youtu.be/Ts4oytcG-80
“Putin speech, in English, transcribed. audio only”
Modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia - Vladimr Putin
Feb 25, 2022
Skeptical Waves

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Transcript
00:00 vladimir putin's speech on ukraine
00:02 february 21 2022
00:05 narrated by skeptical waves
00:07 citizens of russia friends
00:10 my address concerns the events in
00:11 ukraine and why this is so important for
00:13 us for russia
00:15 of course my message is also addressed
00:17 to our compatriots in ukraine
00:19 the matter is very serious and needs to
00:21 be discussed in depth
00:23 the situation in donbass has reached a
00:25 critical acute stage i am speaking to
00:27 you directly today not only to explain
00:29 what is happening but also to inform you
00:31 of the decisions being made as well as
00:33 potential further steps
00:35 i would like to emphasize again that
00:36 ukraine is not just a neighboring
00:38 country for us
00:39 it is an inalienable part of our own
00:41 history culture and spiritual space
00:43 these are our comrades those dearest to
00:46 us not only colleagues friends and
00:48 people who once served together but also
00:50 relatives people bound by blood by
00:52 family ties
00:54 since time immemorial the people living
00:56 in the southwest of what has
00:57 historically been russian land have
00:58 called themselves russians and orthodox
01:00 christians
01:01 this was the case before the 17th
01:03 century when a portion of this territory
01:05 rejoined the russian state and after
01:08 it seems to us that generally speaking
01:10 we all know these facts that this is
01:12 common knowledge
01:13 still it is necessary to say at least a
01:15 few words about the history of this
01:17 issue in order to understand what is
01:18 happening today to explain the motives
01:20 behind russia's actions and what we aim
01:22 to achieve
01:23 so i will start with the fact that
01:25 modern ukraine was entirely created by
01:27 russia or to be more precise by
01:29 bolshevik communist russia
01:31 this process started practically right
01:33 after the 1917 revolution and lenin and
01:36 his associates did it in a way that was
01:38 extremely harsh on russia by separating
01:40 severing what is historically russian
01:42 land
01:43 nobody asked the millions of people
01:44 living there what they thought
01:46 then both before and after the great
01:48 patriotic war stalin incorporated in the
01:51 ussr and transferred to ukraine some
01:53 lands that previously belonged to poland
01:55 romania and hungary in the process he
01:58 gave poland part of what was
01:59 traditionally german land as
02:00 compensation and in 1954 khrushchev took
02:04 crimea away from russia for some reason
02:05 and also gave it to ukraine in effect
02:08 this is how the territory of modern
02:10 ukraine was formed
02:11 but now i would like to focus attention
02:13 on the initial period of the ussr's
02:15 formation i believe this is extremely
02:18 important for us
02:19 i will have to approach it from a
02:20 distance so to speak
02:22 i will remind you that after the 1917
02:25 october revolution and the subsequent
02:27 civil war the bolsheviks set about
02:28 creating a new statehood they had rather
02:31 serious disagreements among themselves
02:32 on this point in 1922 stalin occupied
02:36 the positions of both the general
02:37 secretary of the russian communist party
02:39 bolsheviks and the people's commissar
02:41 for ethnic affairs he suggested building
02:44 the country on the principles of
02:45 autonomization that is giving the
02:47 republics the future administrative and
02:49 territorial entities broad powers upon
02:52 joining a unified state
02:53 lenin criticized this plan and suggested
02:56 making concessions to the nationalists
02:57 whom he called independence at that time
03:00 lenin's ideas of what amounted in
03:02 essence to a confederative state
03:03 arrangement and a slogan about the right
03:05 of nations to self-determination up to
03:07 secession were laid in the foundation of
03:09 soviet statehood initially they were
03:11 confirmed in the declaration on the
03:13 formation of the ussr in 1922 and later
03:16 on after lennon's death were enshrined
03:19 in the 1924 soviet constitution
03:22 this immediately raises many questions
03:24 the first is really the main one why was
03:26 it necessary to appease the nationalists
03:29 to satisfy the ceaselessly growing
03:30 nationalist ambitions on the outskirts
03:32 of the former empire what was the point
03:34 of transferring to the newly often
03:36 arbitrarily formed administrative units
03:39 the union republics vast territories
03:41 that had nothing to do with them
03:43 let me repeat that these territories
03:44 were transferred along with the
03:46 population of what was historically
03:47 russia
03:48 moreover these administrative units were
03:50 de facto given the status and form of
03:52 national state entities
03:54 that raises another question why was it
03:56 necessary to make such generous gifts
03:58 beyond the wildest dreams of the most
04:00 zealous nationalists and on top of all
04:02 that give the republics the right to
04:04 secede from the unified state without
04:06 any conditions
04:07 at first glance this looks absolutely
04:09 incomprehensible even crazy but only at
04:12 first glance there is an explanation
04:15 after the revolution the bolsheviks main
04:17 goal was to stay in power at all costs
04:19 absolutely at all costs
04:21 they did everything for this purpose
04:23 accepted the humiliating treaty of
04:25 breslatosk although the military and
04:27 economic situation in kaiser germany and
04:29 its allies was dramatic and the outcome
04:31 of the first world war was a foregone
04:32 conclusion and satisfied any demands and
04:35 wishes of the nationalists within the
04:36 country
04:38 when it comes to the historical destiny
04:39 of russia and its peoples lenin's
04:41 principles of state development were not
04:43 just a mistake they were worse than a
04:44 mistake as the saying goes
04:47 this became patently clear after the
04:48 dissolution of the soviet union in 1991.
04:52 of course we cannot change past events
04:54 but we must at least admit them openly
04:56 and honestly without any reservations or
04:58 politicking personally i can add that no
05:01 political factors however impressive or
05:03 profitable they may seem at any given
05:05 moment can or may be used as the
05:07 fundamental principles of statehood
05:09 i am not trying to put the blame on
05:11 anyone the situation in the country at
05:13 that time both before and after the
05:15 civil war was extremely complicated it
05:17 was critical
05:19 the only thing i would like to say today
05:20 is that this is exactly how it was
05:22 it is a historical fact
05:24 actually as i have already said soviet
05:27 ukraine is the result of the bolsheviks
05:29 policy and can be rightfully called
05:31 vladimir lenin's ukraine he was its
05:33 creator and architect
05:35 this is fully and comprehensively
05:36 corroborated by archival documents
05:38 including lenin's harsh instructions
05:40 regarding donves which was actually
05:42 shoved into ukraine and today the
05:44 grateful progeny has overturned
05:46 monuments to lenin and ukraine they call
05:48 it decommunization
05:50 you want decommunization
05:52 very well this suits us just fine
05:54 but why stop halfway we are ready to
05:57 show what realty communizations would
05:58 mean for ukraine
06:00 going back to history i would like to
06:02 repeat that the soviet union was
06:03 established in the place of the former
06:05 russian empire in 1922 but practice
06:08 showed immediately that it was
06:09 impossible to preserve or govern such a
06:11 vast and complex territory on the
06:13 amorphous principles that amounted to
06:14 confederation
06:16 they were far removed from reality in
06:18 the historical tradition it is logical
06:20 that the red terror and a rapid slide
06:22 into stalin's dictatorship the
06:24 domination of the communist ideology and
06:26 the communist party's monopoly on power
06:29 nationalization and the planned economy
06:31 all this transformed the formally
06:32 declared but ineffective principles of
06:34 government into a mere declaration
06:36 in reality the union republics did not
06:39 have any sovereign rights none at all
06:41 the practical result was the creation of
06:43 a tightly centralized and absolutely
06:45 unitary state
06:47 in fact what stalin fully implemented
06:49 was not lenin's but his own principles
06:51 of government but he did not make the
06:53 relevant amendments to the cornerstone
06:54 documents to the constitution and he did
06:57 not formally revise lenin's principles
06:59 underlying the soviet union from the
07:01 look of it there seemed to be no need
07:03 for that because everything seemed to be
07:04 working well in conditions of the
07:06 totalitarian regime and outwardly it
07:08 looked wonderful attractive and even
07:10 super democratic
07:12 and yet it is a great pity that the
07:13 fundamental and formally legal
07:15 foundations of our state were not
07:17 promptly cleansed of the odious and
07:18 utopian fantasies inspired by the
07:20 revolution which are absolutely
07:22 destructive for any normal state as it
07:24 often happened in our country before
07:26 nobody gave any thought to the future
07:28 it seems that the communist party
07:30 leaders were convinced that they had
07:31 created a solid system of government and
07:33 that their policies had settled the
07:35 ethnic issue for good but falsification
07:38 misconception and tampering with public
07:40 opinion have a high cost
07:42 the virus of nationalist ambitions is
07:44 still with us and the mind laid at the
07:45 initial stage to destroy state immunity
07:48 to the disease of nationalism was
07:49 ticking as i have already said the mine
07:52 was the right of secession from the
07:53 soviet union
07:55 in the mid 1980s the increasing
07:57 socioeconomic problems and the apparent
07:59 crisis of the planned economy aggravated
08:01 the ethnic issue which essentially was
08:03 not based on any expectations or
08:05 unfulfilled dreams of the soviet peoples
08:07 but primarily the growing appetites of
08:09 the local elites
08:11 however instead of analyzing the
08:12 situation taking appropriate measures
08:15 first of all in the economy and
08:17 gradually transforming the political
08:18 system and government in a
08:19 well-considered and balanced manner the
08:21 communist party leadership only engaged
08:23 in open double talk about the revival of
08:25 the leninist principle of national
08:27 self-determination
08:29 moreover in the course of power struggle
08:31 within the communist party itself each
08:33 of the opposing sides in a bid to expand
08:35 its support base started to
08:37 thoughtlessly incite and encourage
08:39 nationalist sentiments manipulating them
08:41 and promising their potential supporters
08:42 whatever they wished against the
08:44 backdrop of the superficial and populist
08:46 rhetoric about democracy and a bright
08:48 future based either on a market or a
08:50 planned economy but emit a true
08:52 impoverishment of people and widespread
08:53 shortages no one among the powers that
08:55 be was thinking about the inevitable
08:57 tragic consequences for the country
08:59 next they entirely embarked on the track
09:02 beaten at the inception of the ussr and
09:04 pandering to the ambitions of the
09:05 nationalist elites nurtured within their
09:07 own party ranks but in so doing they
09:10 forgot that the cpsu no longer had thank
09:12 god the tools for retaining power and
09:14 the country itself tools such as state
09:17 terror and a stalinist type dictatorship
09:19 and that the notorious guiding role of
09:21 the party was disappearing without a
09:22 trace like a morning mist right before
09:24 their eyes
09:26 and then the september 1989 plenary
09:29 session of the cpsu central committee
09:31 approved a truly fatal document the
09:33 so-called ethnic policy of the party in
09:35 modern conditions the cpsu platform it
09:38 included the following provisions i
09:40 quote the republics of the ussr shall
09:42 possess all the rights appropriate to
09:43 their status as sovereign socialist
09:45 states
09:46 the next point the supreme
09:48 representative bodies of power of the
09:49 ussr republics can challenge and suspend
09:52 the operation of the ussr government's
09:54 resolutions and directives in their
09:56 territory
09:57 and finally each republic of the ussr
09:59 shall have citizenship of its own which
10:01 shall apply to all of its residents
10:04 wasn't it clear what these formulas and
10:06 decisions would lead to
10:08 now is not the time or place to go into
10:09 matters pertaining to state or
10:11 constitutional law or define the concept
10:13 of citizenship but one may wonder why
10:16 was it necessary to rock the country
10:18 even more in that already complicated
10:19 situation
10:21 the facts remain
10:22 even two years before the collapse of
10:24 the ussr its fate was actually
10:26 predetermined it is now that radicals
10:28 and nationalists including and primarily
10:31 those in ukraine are taking credit for
10:33 having gained independence
10:34 as we can see this is absolutely wrong
10:37 the disintegration of our united country
10:39 was brought about by the historic
10:41 strategic mistakes on the part of the
10:42 bolshevik leaders and the cpsu
10:44 leadership mistakes committed at
10:46 different times in state building and in
10:48 economic and ethnic policies
10:50 the collapse of the historical russia
10:51 known as the ussr is on their conscience
10:54 despite all these injustices lies an
10:57 outright pillage of russia it was our
10:59 people who accepted the new geopolitical
11:01 reality that took shape after the
11:02 dissolution of the ussr and recognized
11:05 the new independent states
11:07 not only did russia recognize these
11:08 countries but helped its cis partners
11:10 even though it faced a very dire
11:12 situation itself this included our
11:14 ukrainian colleagues who turned to us
11:16 for financial support many times from
11:18 the very moment they declared
11:19 independence
11:21 our country provided this assistance
11:22 while respecting ukraine's dignity and
11:24 sovereignty
11:25 according to expert assessments
11:27 confirmed by a simple calculation of our
11:29 energy prices the subsidized loans
11:31 russia provided to ukraine along with
11:33 economic and trade preferences the
11:35 overall benefit for the ukrainian budget
11:37 in the period from 1991 to 2013 amounted
11:40 to 250 billion dollars
11:42 however there was more to it than that
11:44 by the end of 1991 the ussr owed some
11:48 100 billion dollars to other countries
11:50 and international funds
11:51 initially there was this idea that all
11:53 former soviet republics will pay back
11:55 these loans together in the spirit of
11:57 solidarity and proportionally to their
11:59 economic potential however russia
12:01 undertook to pay back all soviet debts
12:04 and delivered on this promise by
12:05 completing this process in 2017.
12:08 in exchange for that the newly
12:10 independent states had to hand over to
12:11 russia part of the soviet foreign assets
12:14 an agreement to this effect was reached
12:15 with ukraine in december 1994.
12:18 however kiev failed to ratify these
12:20 agreements and later simply refused to
12:22 honor them by making demands for a share
12:24 of the diamond treasury gold reserves as
12:26 well as former ussr property and other
12:28 assets abroad
12:30 nevertheless despite all these
12:32 challenges russia always worked with
12:34 ukraine in an open and honest manner and
12:36 as i have already said with respect for
12:38 its interests we developed our ties in
12:41 multiple fields
12:42 thus in 2011 bilateral trade exceeded 50
12:45 billion dollars let me note that in 2019
12:48 that is before the pandemic ukraine's
12:50 trade with all eu countries combined was
12:52 below this indicator
12:54 at the same time it was striking how the
12:56 ukrainian authorities always preferred
12:58 dealing with russia in a way that
12:59 ensured that they enjoy all the rights
13:01 and privileges while remaining free from
13:02 any obligations
13:04 the officials in kiev replaced
13:06 partnership with a parasitic attitude
13:08 acting at times in an extremely brash
13:09 manner
13:10 suffice it to recall the continuous
13:12 blackmail on energy transits and the
13:14 fact that they literally stole gas
13:16 i can add that kiev tried to use
13:18 dialogue with russia as a bargaining
13:19 chip in its relations with the west
13:21 using the threat of closer ties with
13:23 russia for blackmailing the west to
13:24 secure preferences by claiming that
13:26 otherwise russia would have a bigger
13:27 influence in ukraine
13:29 at the same time the ukrainian
13:31 authorities i would like to emphasize
13:33 this began by building their statehood
13:35 on the negation of everything that
13:36 united us trying to distort the
13:38 mentality and historical memory of
13:40 millions of people of entire generations
13:42 living in ukraine it is not surprising
13:45 that ukrainian society was faced with
13:47 the rise of far-right nationalism which
13:49 rapidly developed into aggressive
13:50 russophobia and neo-nazism this resulted
13:53 in the participation of ukrainian
13:55 nationalists and neo-nazis and the
13:56 terrorist groups in the north caucasus
13:58 and the increasingly loud territorial
14:00 claims to russia a role in this was
14:03 played by external forces which used a
14:05 ramified network of ngos and special
14:07 services to nurture their clients in
14:08 ukraine and to bring their
14:10 representatives to the seats of
14:11 authority
14:12 it should be noted that ukraine actually
14:14 never had stable traditions of real
14:16 statehood
14:17 and therefore in 1991 and opted for
14:20 mindlessly emulating foreign models
14:21 which have no relation to history or
14:23 ukrainian realities political government
14:26 institutions were readjusted many times
14:28 to the rapidly growing clans and their
14:30 self-serving interests which had nothing
14:31 to do with the interests of the
14:32 ukrainian people
14:34 essentially the so-called pro-western
14:36 civilizational choice made by the
14:38 oligarchic ukrainian authorities was not
14:40 and has not aimed at creating better
14:42 conditions in the interests of people's
14:44 well-being but at keeping the billions
14:45 of dollars that the oligarchs have
14:47 stolen from the ukrainians and are
14:48 holding in their accounts in western
14:50 banks while reverently accommodating the
14:52 geopolitical rivals of russia
14:54 some industrial and financial groups and
14:56 the parties and politicians on their
14:58 payroll relied on the nationalists and
14:59 radicals from the very beginning
15:01 others claimed to be in favor of good
15:03 relations with russia and cultural and
15:05 language diversity coming to power with
15:07 the help of their citizens who sincerely
15:09 supported their declared aspirations
15:11 including the millions of people in the
15:12 southeastern regions but after getting
15:14 the positions they coveted these people
15:16 immediately betrayed their voters going
15:18 back on their election promises and
15:20 instead steering a policy prompted by
15:22 the radicals and sometimes even
15:24 persecuting their former allies the
15:26 public organizations that supported
15:27 bilingualism and cooperation with russia
15:30 these people took advantage of the fact
15:32 that their voters were mostly
15:33 law-abiding citizens with moderate views
15:35 who trusted the authorities and that
15:37 unlike the radicals they would not act
15:39 aggressively or make use of illegal
15:41 instruments
15:42 meanwhile the radicals became
15:44 increasingly brazen in their actions and
15:46 made more demands every year they found
15:48 it easy to force their will on the weak
15:50 authorities which were infected with a
15:52 virus of nationalism and corruption as
15:54 well in which artfully replaced the real
15:56 cultural economic and social interests
15:58 of the people in ukraine's true
15:59 sovereignty with various ethnic
16:00 speculations and formal ethnic
16:02 attributes
16:03 a stable statehood has never developed
16:05 in ukraine its electoral and other
16:07 political procedures just serve as a
16:09 cover a screen for the redistribution of
16:11 power and property between various
16:13 oligarchy clans
16:15 corruption which is certainly a
16:16 challenge and a problem for many
16:18 countries including russia has gone
16:20 beyond the usual scope in ukraine it has
16:22 literally permeated and corroded
16:24 ukrainian statehood the entire system
16:26 and all branches of power
16:28 radical nationalists took advantage of
16:30 the justified public discontent and
16:32 settled the maiden protest escalating it
16:34 to a coup d'etat in 2014. they also had
16:37 direct assistance from foreign states
16:39 according to reports the us embassy
16:41 provided 1 million dollars a day to
16:43 support the so-called protest camp on
16:45 independence square in kiev
16:47 in addition large amounts were
16:49 impudently transferred directly to the
16:51 opposition leaders bank accounts tens of
16:53 millions of dollars
16:54 but the people who actually suffered the
16:56 families of those who died in the
16:58 clashes provoked in the streets and
16:59 squares of kiev and other cities how
17:01 much did they get in the end
17:03 better not ask
17:04 the nationalists who have seized power
17:06 have unleashed a persecution a real
17:08 terror campaign against those who oppose
17:10 their anti-constitutional actions
17:12 politicians journalists and public
17:15 activists were harassed and publicly
17:16 humiliated a wave of violence swept
17:19 ukrainian cities including a series of
17:21 high profile and unpunished murders
17:23 one shudders at the memories of the
17:25 terrible tragedy in odessa where
17:27 peaceful protesters were brutally
17:28 murdered burned alive in the house of
17:30 trade unions
17:31 the criminals who committed that
17:32 atrocity have never been punished and no
17:35 one is even looking for them but we know
17:37 their names and we will do everything to
17:38 punish them find them and bring them to
17:40 justice
17:42 maiden did not bring ukraine any closer
17:44 to democracy and progress having
17:46 accomplished a coup d'etat the
17:48 nationalists and those political forces
17:49 that supported them eventually led
17:51 ukraine into an impasse pushed the
17:53 country into the abyss of civil war
17:55 eight years later the country is split
17:57 ukraine is struggling with an acute
17:59 socio-economic crisis
18:01 according to international organizations
18:04 in 2019 almost 6 million ukrainians i
18:07 emphasize about 15
18:09 not of the woker force but of the entire
18:11 population of that country had to go
18:13 abroad to find work
18:14 most of them do odd jobs
18:16 the following fact is also revealing
18:18 since 2020 over sixty thousand doctors
18:21 and other health workers have left the
18:22 country amid the pandemic
18:24 since 2014 water bills increased by
18:27 almost a third and energy bills grew
18:29 several times while the price of gas for
18:31 households surged several dozen times
18:34 many people simply do not have the money
18:35 to pay for utilities they literally
18:38 struggle to survive
18:40 what happened
18:41 why is this all happening the answer is
18:43 obvious
18:44 they spent and embezzled the legacy
18:46 inherited not only from the soviet era
18:48 but also from the russian empire they
18:50 lost tens hundreds of thousands of jobs
18:52 which enabled people to earn a reliable
18:54 income and generate tax revenue among
18:56 other things thanks to close cooperation
18:58 with russia
18:59 sectors including machine building
19:01 instrument engineering electronics ship
19:04 and aircraft building have been
19:05 undermined or destroyed altogether
19:07 there was a time however when not only
19:09 ukraine but the entire soviet union took
19:12 pride in these companies
19:14 in 2021 the black sea shipyard and
19:16 nikolai have went out of business its
19:18 first stocks date back to catherine the
19:20 great on tonoff the famous manufacturer
19:23 has not made a single commercial
19:25 aircraft since 2016 while use mesh a
19:27 factory specializing in missile and
19:29 space equipment is nearly bankrupt the
19:32 kramen chug steel plant is in a similar
19:34 situation this sad list goes on and on
19:37 as for the gas transportation system it
19:39 was built in its entirety by the soviet
19:41 union and it has now deteriorated to an
19:43 extent that using it creates major risks
19:45 and comes at a high cost for the
19:47 environment
19:48 this situation begs the question poverty
19:51 lack of opportunity
19:52 and lost industrial and technological
19:54 potential is this the pro-western
19:56 civilizational choice they have been
19:57 using for many years to fool millions of
19:59 people with promises of heavenly
20:01 pastures
20:02 it all came down to a ukrainian economy
20:04 and tatters and outright pillage of the
20:06 country's citizens while ukraine itself
20:08 was placed under external control
20:10 directed not only from the western
20:11 capitals but also on the ground as the
20:14 saying goes through an entire network of
20:16 foreign advisors ngos and other
20:18 institutions present in ukraine
20:20 they have a direct bearing on all the
20:22 key appointments and dismissals and on
20:24 all branches of power at all levels from
20:26 the central government down to
20:27 municipalities as well as on state-owned
20:29 companies and corporations including
20:31 nafta gas ukrainia ukrainian railways
20:34 ukroboronprom ukrapashta and the
20:37 ukrainian seaports authority
20:39 there is no independent judiciary in
20:41 ukraine the kiev authorities at the west
20:44 demand delegated the priority right to
20:46 select members of the supreme judicial
20:48 bodies the council of justice and the
20:50 high qualifications commission of judges
20:52 to international organizations
20:54 in addition the united states directly
20:56 controls the national agency on
20:58 corruption prevention the national
21:00 anti-corruption bureau the specialized
21:02 anti-corruption prosecutor's office and
21:04 the high anti-corruption court all this
21:06 is done under the noble pretext of
21:08 invigorating efforts against corruption
21:10 all right but where are the results
21:12 corruption is flourishing like never
21:14 before
21:15 are the ukrainian people aware that this
21:17 is how their country is managed do they
21:19 realize that their country has turned
21:20 not even into a political or economic
21:22 protectorate but has been reduced to a
21:24 colony with a puppet regime the state
21:27 was privatized
21:28 as a result the government which
21:30 designates itself as the power of
21:32 patriots no longer acts in a national
21:34 capacity and consistently pushes ukraine
21:36 towards losing its sovereignty
21:38 the policy to root out the russian
21:40 language and culture and promote
21:41 assimilation carries on the virkhov
21:44 narada has generated a steady flow of
21:46 discriminatory bills and the law on the
21:48 so-called indigenous people has already
21:50 come into force
21:51 people who identify as russians and want
21:53 to preserve their identity language and
21:55 culture are getting the signal that they
21:56 are not wanted in ukraine
21:58 under the laws on education in the
22:00 ukrainian language as a state language
22:02 the russian language has no place in
22:04 schools or public spaces even in
22:06 ordinary shops the law on the so-called
22:08 vetting of officials and purging their
22:10 ranks created a pathway for dealing with
22:12 unwanted civil servants
22:14 there are more and more acts enabling
22:16 the ukrainian military and law
22:17 enforcement agencies to crack down on
22:19 the freedom of speech dissent and going
22:21 after the opposition the world knows the
22:23 deplorable practice of imposing
22:25 unilateral illegitimate sanctions
22:27 against other countries foreign
22:28 individuals and legal entities ukraine
22:31 has outperformed its western masters by
22:33 inventing sanctions against its own
22:35 citizens companies television channels
22:37 other media outlets and even members of
22:39 parliament
22:40 kiev continues to prepare the
22:42 destruction of the ukrainian orthodox
22:44 church of the moscow patriarchate this
22:46 is not an emotional judgment proof of
22:48 this can be found in concrete decisions
22:50 and documents the ukrainian authorities
22:52 have cynically turned the tragedy of the
22:54 schism into an instrument of state
22:55 policy the current authorities do not
22:58 react to the ukrainian people's appeals
23:00 to abolish the laws that are infringing
23:01 on believers rights
23:03 moreover new draft laws directed against
23:05 the clergy and millions of parishioners
23:07 of the ukrainian orthodox church of the
23:09 moscow patriarchate have been registered
23:11 in the virkhov narada
23:13 a few words about crimea the people of
23:15 the peninsula freely made their choice
23:17 to be with russia the kiev authorities
23:19 cannot challenge the clearly stated
23:21 choice of the people which is why they
23:23 have opted for aggressive action for
23:25 activating extremist cells including
23:27 radical islamist organizations for
23:29 sending subversives to stage terrorist
23:31 attacks at critical infrastructure
23:33 facilities and for kidnapping russian
23:35 citizens we have factual proof that such
23:37 aggressive actions are being taken with
23:39 support from western security services
23:42 in march 2021 a new military strategy
23:45 was adopted in ukraine this document is
23:47 almost entirely dedicated to
23:49 confrontation with russia and sets the
23:51 goal of involving foreign states in a
23:52 conflict with our country the strategy
23:55 stipulates the organization of what can
23:57 be described as a terrorist underground
23:58 movement in russia's crimea and in
24:00 donbass it also sets out the contours of
24:03 a potential war which should end
24:04 according to the kiev strategists with
24:06 the assistance of the international
24:08 community on favorable terms for ukraine
24:10 as well as listen carefully please with
24:13 foreign military support in the
24:14 geopolitical confrontation with the
24:16 russian federation in fact this is
24:19 nothing other than preparation for
24:20 hostilities against our country russia
24:23 as we know it has already been stated
24:25 today that ukraine intends to create its
24:27 own nuclear weapons and this is not just
24:29 bragging ukraine has the nuclear
24:31 technologies created back in the soviet
24:33 times and delivery vehicles for such
24:35 weapons including aircraft as well as
24:37 the soviet designed to kill you
24:39 precision tactical missiles with a range
24:41 of over 100 kilometers but they can do
24:43 more it is only a matter of time they
24:46 have had the groundwork for this since
24:47 the soviet era
24:49 in other words acquiring tactical
24:51 nuclear weapons will be much easier for
24:53 ukraine than for some other states i am
24:54 not going to mention here which are
24:56 conducting such research especially if
24:58 kiev receives foreign technological
25:00 support
25:01 we cannot rule this out either
25:03 if ukraine acquires weapons of mass
25:05 destruction the situation in the world
25:07 and in europe will drastically change
25:09 especially for us for russia
25:11 we cannot but react to this real danger
25:14 all the more so since let me repeat
25:16 ukraine's western patrons may help but
25:18 acquire these weapons to create yet
25:19 another threat to our country we are
25:21 seeing how persistently the kiev regime
25:23 is being pumped with arms since 2014 the
25:26 united states alone has spent billions
25:28 of dollars for this purpose including
25:30 supplies of arms and equipment and
25:32 training of specialists
25:33 in the last few months there has been a
25:35 constant flow of western weapons to
25:37 ukraine ostentatiously with the entire
25:40 world watching
25:41 foreign advisors supervise the
25:43 activities of ukraine's armed forces and
25:44 special services and we are well aware
25:46 of this
25:48 over the past few years military
25:49 contingents of nato countries have been
25:51 almost constantly present on ukrainian
25:53 territory under the pretext of exercises
25:56 the ukrainian troop control system has
25:58 already been integrated into nato this
26:00 means that nato headquarters can issue
26:02 direct commands to the ukrainian armed
26:04 forces even to their separate units and
26:06 squads
26:07 the united states and nato have started
26:09 an impudent development of ukrainian
26:11 territory as a theater of potential
26:13 military operations
26:14 their regular joint exercises are
26:16 obviously anti-russian
26:18 last year alone over 23 000 troops and
26:21 more than a thousand units of hardware
26:22 were involved
26:24 a law has already been adopted that
26:26 allows foreign troops to come to ukraine
26:27 in 2022 to take part in multinational
26:30 drills
26:31 understandably these are primarily nato
26:33 troops
26:34 this year at least 10 of these joint
26:36 drills are planned
26:37 obviously such undertakings are designed
26:40 to be a cover-up for a rapid build-up of
26:42 the nato military group on ukrainian
26:43 territory this is all the more so since
26:46 the network of airfields upgraded with
26:48 us help in boris ball ivano francesc
26:50 chugiev and odessa to name a few is
26:53 capable of transferring army units in a
26:55 very short time ukraine's airspace is
26:58 open to flights by u.s strategic and
27:00 reconnaissance aircraft and drones that
27:02 conduct surveillance over russian
27:03 territory
27:05 i will add that the us-built maritime
27:07 operations center in okakov makes it
27:08 possible to support activity by nato
27:10 warships including the use of precision
27:13 weapons against the russian black sea
27:15 fleet in our infrastructure on the
27:16 entire black sea coast
27:18 at one time the united states intended
27:20 to build similar facilities in crimea as
27:22 well but the crimeans and residents of
27:24 sevastopol wreck these plans
27:26 we will always remember this
27:28 i would like to repeat that today such a
27:30 center has already been deployed in
27:32 okakov in the 18th century soldiers of
27:34 alexander suvrov fought for this city
27:37 owing to their courage it became part of
27:39 russia
27:40 also in the 18th century the lands of
27:42 the black sea littoral incorporated in
27:44 russia as a result of wars with the
27:45 ottoman empire were given the name of
27:47 novorossiya new russia now attempts are
27:50 being made to condemn these landmarks of
27:52 history to oblivion along with the names
27:54 of state and military figures of the
27:56 russian empire without whose efforts
27:58 modern ukraine would not have many big
28:00 cities or even access to the black sea
28:02 a monument to alexander suverov was
28:04 recently demolished in poltava what is
28:07 there to say are you renouncing your own
28:09 past
28:10 the so-called colonial heritage of the
28:12 russian empire
28:13 well in this case be consistent next
28:16 notably article 17 of the constitution
28:19 of ukraine stipulates that deploying
28:21 foreign military bases on its territory
28:23 is illegal
28:24 however as it turns out this is just a
28:26 conventionality that can be easily
28:28 circumvented ukraine is home to nato
28:31 training missions which are in fact
28:33 foreign military bases
28:35 they just called a base a mission and
28:36 we're done with it
28:37 kiev has long proclaimed a strategic
28:39 course on joining nato
28:41 indeed each country is entitled to pick
28:43 its own security system and enter into
28:45 military alliances there would be no
28:47 problem with that if it were not for one
28:49 but international documents expressly
28:52 stipulate the principle of equal and
28:53 indivisible security which includes
28:55 obligations not to strengthen one's own
28:57 security at the expense of the security
28:59 of other states
29:00 this is stated in the 1999 as charter
29:03 for european security adopted in
29:04 istanbul and then 2010 a sustana
29:06 declaration
29:08 in other words the choice of pathways
29:10 towards ensuring security should not
29:12 pose a threat to other states whereas
29:13 ukraine joining nato is a direct threat
29:15 to russia's security
29:17 let me remind you that at the bucharest
29:19 nato summit held in april 2008 the
29:21 united states pushed through a decision
29:23 to the effect that ukraine end by the
29:25 way georgia would become nato members
29:27 many european allies of the united
29:29 states were well aware of the risks
29:31 associated with this prospect already
29:33 then but were forced to put up with the
29:34 will of their senior partner
29:36 the americans simply used them to carry
29:38 out a clearly anti-russian policy
29:40 a number of nato member states are still
29:42 very skeptical about ukraine joining
29:44 nato we are getting signals from some
29:46 european capitals telling us not to
29:48 worry since it will not happen literally
29:50 overnight in fact our u.s partners are
29:53 saying the same thing as well
29:54 all right then we respond if it does not
29:57 happen tomorrow then it will happen the
29:59 day after tomorrow
30:00 what does it change from the historical
30:02 perspective
30:03 nothing at all
30:05 furthermore we are aware of the u.s
30:06 leadership's position and words that
30:08 active hostilities in eastern ukraine do
30:10 not rule out the possibility of that
30:12 country joining nato if it meets nato
30:14 criteria and overcomes corruption
30:17 all the while they are trying to
30:18 convince us over and over again that
30:20 nato is a peace-loving and purely
30:22 defensive alliance that poses no threat
30:23 to russia
30:25 again they want us to take their word
30:26 for it but we are well aware of the real
30:29 value of these words in 1990 when german
30:32 unification was discussed the united
30:34 states promised the soviet leadership
30:36 that nato jurisdiction or military
30:38 presence will not expand one inch to the
30:40 east and that the unification of germany
30:41 will not lead to the spread of nato's
30:43 military organization to the east
30:45 this is a quote
30:47 they issued lots of verbal assurances
30:49 all of which turned out to be empty
30:50 phrases
30:51 later they began to assure us that the
30:53 accession to nato by central and eastern
30:55 european countries would only improve
30:57 relations with moscow relieve these
30:59 countries of the fear steeped in their
31:01 bitter historical legacy and even create
31:03 a belt of countries that are friendly
31:04 towards russia
31:06 however the exact opposite happened
31:08 the governments of certain eastern
31:10 european countries speculating on
31:12 russophobia brought their complexes and
31:14 stereotypes about the russian threat to
31:16 the alliance and insisted on building up
31:18 the collective defense potentials and
31:20 deploying them primarily against russia
31:22 worse still that happened in the 1990s
31:24 and the early 2000s when thanks to our
31:27 openness and goodwill relations between
31:29 russia and the west had reached a high
31:30 level russia has fulfilled all of its
31:33 obligations including the pull out from
31:35 germany from central and eastern europe
31:38 making an immense contribution to
31:39 overcoming the legacy of the cold war we
31:42 have consistently proposed various
31:43 cooperation options including in the
31:45 nato-russia council in the is formats
31:48 moreover i will say something i have
31:50 never said publicly i will say it now
31:52 for the first time
31:53 when then outgoing u.s president bill
31:55 clinton visited moscow in 2000 i asked
31:57 him how america would feel about
31:59 admitting russia to nato
32:01 i will not reveal all the details of
32:02 that conversation but the reaction to my
32:05 question was let us say quite restrained
32:07 and the americans true attitude to that
32:09 possibility can actually be seen from
32:11 their subsequent steps with regard to
32:12 our country i am referring to the overt
32:15 support for terrorists in the north
32:16 caucasus the disregard for our security
32:18 demands and concerns nato's continued
32:21 expansion withdrawal from the abm treaty
32:23 and so on it raises the question why
32:26 what is all this about what is the
32:28 purpose
32:29 all right you do not want to see us as
32:31 friends or allies but why make us an
32:33 enemy
32:34 there can be only one answer this is not
32:36 about our political regime or anything
32:38 like that they just do not need a big
32:40 and independent country like russia
32:42 around
32:43 this is the answer to all questions
32:45 this is the source of america's
32:46 traditional policy towards russia
32:49 hence the attitude to all our security
32:50 proposals
32:52 today one glance at the map is enough to
32:54 see to what extent western countries
32:56 have kept their promise to refrain from
32:57 nato's eastward expansion they just
32:59 cheated we have seen five waves of nato
33:02 expansion one after another poland the
33:05 czech republic and hungary were admitted
33:07 in 1999 bulgaria estonia latvia
33:11 lithuania romania slovakia and slovenia
33:14 in 2004 albania and croatia in 2009
33:18 montenegro in 2017 and north macedonia
33:21 in 2020
33:22 as a result the alliance its military
33:25 infrastructure has reached russia's
33:26 borders this is one of the key causes of
33:29 the european security crisis it has had
33:31 the most negative impact on the entire
33:33 system of international relations and
33:35 led to the loss of mutual trust
33:37 the situation continues to deteriorate
33:39 including in the strategic area
33:41 thus positioning areas for interceptor
33:43 missiles are being established in
33:45 romania and poland as part of the u.s
33:47 project to create a global missile
33:49 defense system
33:50 it is common knowledge that the
33:51 launchers deployed there can be used for
33:53 tomahawk cruise missiles offensive
33:55 strike systems
33:56 in addition the united states is
33:58 developing its all-purpose standard
34:00 missile 6 which can provide air and
34:02 missile defense as well as strike ground
34:04 and surface targets in other words the
34:06 allegedly defensive us missile defense
34:09 system is developing and expanding its
34:10 new offensive capabilities
34:13 the information we have gives us good
34:14 reason to believe that ukraine's
34:16 accession to nato and the subsequent
34:17 deployment of nato facilities has
34:19 already been decided and is only a
34:21 matter of time
34:22 we clearly understand that given this
34:24 scenario the level of military threats
34:26 to russia will increase dramatically
34:28 several times over and i would like to
34:30 emphasize at this point that the risk of
34:32 a sudden strike at our country will
34:33 multiply
34:34 i will explain that american strategic
34:36 planning documents confirm the
34:38 possibility of a so-called pre-emptive
34:40 strike at enemy missile systems we also
34:42 know the main adversary of the united
34:44 states and nato it is russia
34:46 nato documents officially declare our
34:48 country to be the main threat to
34:50 euro-atlantic security ukraine will
34:52 serve as an advanced bridge head for
34:54 such a strike if our ancestors heard
34:56 about this they would probably simply
34:58 not believe this
34:59 we do not want to believe this today
35:01 either but it is what it is
35:03 i would like people in russia and
35:04 ukraine to understand this
35:06 many ukrainian airfields are located not
35:09 far from our borders
35:10 nato's tactical aviation deployed there
35:12 including precision weapon carriers will
35:14 be capable of striking at our territory
35:16 to the depth of the volgograd kazan
35:18 samara astrakhan line the deployment of
35:20 reconnaissance radars on ukrainian
35:22 territory will allow nato to tightly
35:24 control russia's airspace up to the
35:26 urals
35:27 finally after the u.s destroyed the inf
35:30 treaty the pentagon has been openly
35:32 developing many land-based attack
35:34 weapons including ballistic missiles
35:35 that are capable of hitting targets at a
35:37 distance of up to five thousand five
35:39 hundred kilometers if deployed in
35:41 ukraine such systems will be able to hit
35:43 targets in russia's entire european part
35:46 the flying time of tomahawk cruise
35:47 missiles to moscow will be less than 35
35:50 minutes ballistic missiles from kharkov
35:52 will take seven to eight minutes and
35:53 hypersonic assault weapons four to five
35:55 minutes
35:56 it is like a knife to the throat i have
35:58 no doubt that they hope to carry out
36:00 these plans as they did many times in
36:02 the past expanding nato eastward moving
36:05 their military infrastructure to russian
36:07 borders and fully ignoring our concerns
36:09 protests and warnings
36:10 excuse me but they simply did not care
36:13 at all about such things and did
36:14 whatever they deemed necessary
36:16 of course they are going to behave in
36:18 the same way in the future following a
36:20 well-known proverb the dogs bark but the
36:22 caravan goes on let me say right away we
36:25 do not accept this behavior and will
36:26 never accept it that said russia has
36:29 always advocated the resolution of the
36:31 most complicated problems by political
36:33 and diplomatic means at the negotiating
36:35 table
36:36 we are well aware of our enormous
36:38 responsibility when it comes to regional
36:40 and global stability back in 2008 russia
36:43 put forth an initiative to conclude a
36:45 european security treaty under which not
36:47 a single euro-atlantic state or
36:48 international organization could
36:50 strengthen their security at the expense
36:52 of the security of others however our
36:54 proposal was rejected right off the bat
36:56 on the pretext that russia should not be
36:58 allowed to put limits on nato activities
37:01 furthermore it was made explicitly clear
37:03 to us that only nato members can have
37:05 legally binding security guarantees last
37:08 december we handed over to our western
37:10 partners a draft treaty between the
37:11 russian federation and the united states
37:13 of america on security guarantees as
37:16 well as a draft agreement on measures to
37:18 ensure the security of the russian
37:19 federation and nato member states the
37:22 united states and nato responded with
37:24 general statements there were kernels of
37:26 rationality in them as well but they
37:28 concerned matters of secondary
37:29 importance and it all looked like an
37:31 attempt to drag the issue out and to
37:32 lead the discussion astray
37:34 we responded to this accordingly and
37:36 pointed out that we were ready to follow
37:38 the path of negotiations provided
37:40 however that all issues are considered
37:42 as a package that includes russia's core
37:44 proposals which contain three key points
37:46 first to prevent further nato expansion
37:49 second to have the alliance refrain from
37:51 deploying assault weapon systems on
37:53 russian borders and finally rolling back
37:55 the bloc's military capability and
37:57 infrastructure in europe to where they
37:59 were in 1997 when the nato-russia
38:01 founding act was signed
38:03 these principled proposals of hours have
38:05 been ignored to reiterate our western
38:08 partners have once again vocalized the
38:10 all too familiar formulas that each
38:12 state is entitled to freely choose ways
38:13 to ensure its security or to join any
38:15 military union or alliance that is
38:18 nothing has changed in their stance and
38:20 we keep hearing the same old references
38:22 to nato's notorious open door policy
38:24 moreover they are in trying to blackmail
38:27 us and are threatening us with sanctions
38:28 which by the way they will introduce no
38:31 matter what as russia continues to
38:32 strengthen its sovereignty and its armed
38:34 forces
38:35 to be sure they will never think twice
38:37 before coming up with or just
38:38 fabricating a pretext for yet another
38:40 sanction attack regardless of the
38:42 developments in ukraine their one and
38:44 only goal is to hold back the
38:45 development of russia and they will keep
38:48 doing so just as they did before even
38:50 without any formal pretext just because
38:52 we exist and will never compromise our
38:54 sovereignty national interests or values
38:57 i would like to be clear and
38:58 straightforward in the current
38:59 circumstances when our proposals for an
39:02 equal dialogue on fundamental issues
39:04 have actually remained unanswered by the
39:05 united states and nato when the level of
39:08 threats to our country has increased
39:09 significantly russia has every right to
39:11 respond in order to ensure its security
39:14 that is exactly what we will do
39:16 with regard to the state of affairs in
39:18 donbass we see that the ruling kiev
39:20 elites never stop publicly making clear
39:22 their unwillingness to comply with a
39:24 minced package of measures to settle the
39:26 conflict and are not interested in a
39:27 peaceful settlement on the contrary they
39:30 are trying to orchestrate a blitzkrieg
39:31 in donbass as was the case in 2014 and
39:34 2015. we all know how these reckless
39:36 schemes ended
39:38 not a single day goes by without donbass
39:40 communities coming under shelling
39:41 attacks
39:42 the recently formed large military force
39:44 makes use of attack drones heavy
39:46 equipment missiles artillery and
39:48 multiple rocket launchers the killing of
39:50 civilians the blockade the abuse of
39:53 people including children women in the
39:55 elderly continues unabated as we say
39:58 there is no end in sight to this
40:00 meanwhile the so-called civilized world
40:03 which our western colleagues proclaim
40:04 themselves the only representatives of
40:06 prefers not to see this as if this
40:08 horror and genocide which almost 4
40:10 million people are facing do not exist
40:13 but they do exist and only because these
40:15 people did not agree with the west
40:16 supported coup in ukraine in 2014 and
40:19 opposed the transition towards the
40:20 neanderthal and aggressive nationalism
40:22 and neo-nazism which have been elevated
40:24 in ukraine to the rank of national
40:26 policy
40:27 they are fighting for their elementary
40:28 right to live on their own land to speak
40:30 their own language and to preserve their
40:32 culture and traditions
40:34 how long can this tragedy continue
40:36 how much longer can one put up with this
40:38 russia has done everything to preserve
40:40 ukraine's territorial integrity
40:42 all these years it has persistently and
40:45 patiently pushed for the implementation
40:46 of u.n security council resolution 2202
40:50 of february 17 2015 which consolidated
40:53 the mince package of measures of
40:54 february 12 2015 to settle the situation
40:57 in donbass
40:59 everything was in vain
41:00 presidents and rada deputies come and go
41:02 but deep down the aggressive and
41:04 nationalistic regime that seized power
41:06 in kiev remains unchanged
41:08 it is entirely a product of the 2014
41:10 coup and those who then embarked on the
41:12 path of violence bloodshed and
41:14 lawlessness did not recognize then and
41:16 do not recognize now any solution to the
41:18 donbass issue other than a military one
41:20 in this regard i consider it necessary
41:23 to take a long overdue decision and to
41:25 immediately recognize the independence
41:27 and sovereignty of the donetsk people's
41:28 republic and the legance people's
41:30 republic
41:31 i would like to ask the federal assembly
41:33 of the russian federation to support
41:34 this decision and then ratify the treaty
41:37 of friendship and mutual assistance with
41:38 both republics these two documents will
41:41 be prepared and signed shortly
41:43 we want those who seized and continue to
41:45 hold power in kiev to immediately stop
41:47 hostilities otherwise the responsibility
41:50 for the possible continuation of the
41:52 bloodshed will lie entirely on the
41:54 conscience of ukraine's ruling regime
41:56 as i announce the decisions taken today
41:58 i remain confident in the support of
42:00 russia's citizens and the country's
42:02 patriotic forces
42:04 thank you
42:39 you

end.