The head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, sees Russia, in his own words, as a “great power” again on the world stage, after almost two years of war of aggression against Ukraine. “We have become stronger,” Putin said yesterday in a video message at the meeting of the World Council of the Russian People, an organization sponsored by the Russian Orthodox Church.
He also highlighted Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories, which was internationally condemned as a violation of international law, as a success. Modern Russia has recovered and consolidated “its sovereignty as a world power,” Putin said. In contrast, he sees the West, which imposed sanctions on Russia during the war, as economically weakened and isolated on the international stage. Putin once again accused the West of wanting to sow misery and chaos in Russia, fighting for supremacy in order to lead his country to disintegration. Such attempts are doomed to failure.
Anticipation of the electoral campaign
“They also started with the old story that Russia is supposedly a ‘prison for the people’ and that ‘Russians themselves are slaves,’” the 71-year-old said, just months before the presidential elections. Putin is expected to run for a fifth term at the polls in March. But he has not yet officially declared this.
Putin used the meeting, which was also attended by representatives of politics, business and culture as well as other religions in Moscow, as a kind of campaign speech and portrayed Russia as a “champion of a more democratic world order.” fair”. A strong Russia, there is no long-term stable world order possible,” he said – speaking from Sochi on the Black Sea. Putin also held a minute of silence to honor those who died in his war.
Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, sees the country as a “terrorist state” that wants to impose a dictatorship on other people fighting for freedom. Putin brought death and destruction to the neighboring country with his war, which began on February 24, 2022.