Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the formal annexation of 4 areas of Ukraine in a speech on Friday.
Putin and leaders of the 4 areas signed treaties to annex Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – a transfer which has been denounced as unlawful by Ukraine and Western powers.
Throughout a 37-minute lengthy speech, Putin spoke in regards to the break up of the Soviet Union, Western “colonial coverage”, nuclear weapons, and his view of Western morals.
The quotes beneath have been translated into English from Russian.
Defending ‘our land’
“We’ll defend our land with all of the powers and means at our disposal.”
“In 1991, at Belovezh Forest, with out asking the desire of widespread residents, representatives of the then-party elites determined to destroy the USSR, and folks immediately discovered themselves lower off from their motherland. This tore aside and dismembered our nation, changing into a nationwide disaster …
“I admit that they didn’t totally perceive what they had been doing, and what penalties this may inevitably result in in the long run. However that is not essential. There is no such thing as a Soviet Union, the previous can’t be introduced again. And Russia at the moment doesn’t want it any extra. We’re not striving for this.
“The battlefield to which destiny and historical past have known as us is the battlefield for our folks, for nice historic Russia, for future generations, our kids, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
A Message to Kyiv
“I need the Kyiv authorities and their actual masters within the West to listen to me in order that they bear in mind this. Individuals dwelling in Luhansk and Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia have gotten our residents. Eternally.
“We name on the Kyiv regime to right away finish hostilities, finish the warfare that they unleashed again in 2014 and return to the negotiating desk.
“We’re prepared for this … However we won’t talk about the selection of the folks in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. That has been made. Russia won’t betray them.”
Nord Stream fuel leak
“Sanctions weren’t sufficient for the Anglo-Saxons: they moved on to sabotage. It’s arduous to imagine however it’s a indisputable fact that they organised the blasts on the Nord Stream worldwide fuel pipelines, which run alongside the underside of the Baltic Sea … It’s clear to everybody who advantages from this.”
Western imperialism
“The West … started its colonial coverage again within the Center Ages, after which adopted the slave commerce, the genocide of Indian [Indigenous] tribes in America, the plunder of India, of Africa, the wars of England and France in opposition to China …
“What they did was hooking total nations on medicine, intentionally exterminating total ethnic teams. For the sake of land and sources, they hunted folks like animals. That is opposite to the very nature of man, fact, freedom and justice.”
‘Nuclear precedent’
“America is the one nation on the planet that has twice used nuclear weapons, destroying the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and setting a precedent.”
“Even at the moment, they really occupy Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and different international locations, and on the similar time cynically name them allies of equal standing.
Western morals
“Now they’ve moved on solely, to a radical denial of ethical norms, faith, and household …
“The dictatorship of the Western elites is directed in opposition to all societies, together with the peoples of the Western international locations themselves. This can be a problem to all. This can be a full denial of humanity, the overthrow of religion and conventional values. Certainly, the suppression of freedom itself has taken on the options of a faith: outright Satanism.”
“Do we actually need, right here, in our nation, in Russia, as a substitute of ‘mum’ and ‘dad’, to have ‘mum or dad primary’, ‘mum or dad quantity two’, ‘quantity three’? Have they gone fully insane? Do we actually need … it drilled into youngsters in our colleges … that there are supposedly genders moreover ladies and men, and [children to be] provided the prospect to bear intercourse change operations? … We’ve got a distinct future, our personal future.”