The Russian leader's speech turned into a historical retrospective. He was critical of the USSR, stressed that the agreements with the West after the first Soviet Union were not kept and described the grid of Russian-Ukrainian relations.
He focused a lot on the 2014 “orange” revolution in Kiev which he called a coup and towards the end he analysed the problems of the Russian-speaking people in Donbass. He spoke of violations of their rights, even in speaking their language.
Finally, Putin reiterated that Russia opposes in every way the further eastward expansion of NATO. And on this in particular he was absolute.
Points from the speech
The main question is why make so many concessions to those who were on the borders of the Russian Empire?;
Even the most ardent nationalist did not expect to have so much territory. We talk about everything without a political agenda in an honest way.
But the realities of war are not the basis for the creation of a nation. Lenin handed Donbas over to the jurisdiction of Ukraine.
In fact, the Soviet republics had no rights, since Stalin followed his own ideas without making changes to the Constitution. There was no such need, since it was an authoritarian regime.
The leaders of the USSR were focused on building a strong central state. Nationalism was undermining the state and biding its time.
These nationalisms were encouraged. Even in the market economy.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia was not in a position to claim it. But we supported Ukraine when we were asked, we gave loans, we signed agreements. A total of 250 billion dollars.
We also took over the debt of the USSR to the IMF as Russia.
Kiev did not follow this path; it kept the assets of the USSR for itself. But Russia continued to honour the agreements.
The Ukrainian authorities tried to steal the gas from Russia, you remember that. They renounced everything that united us. The new nationalism developed in Ukraine.
They used the secret services to intercept the Russian government. They applied models that were not relevant to the Ukrainian reality.
The Orange Revolution was a front for the oligarchs to seize privileges and power. The support from the American embassy was obvious and great.
They overthrew the legal authority in Ukraine and many criminal cases arose.
Due to unemployment thousands of people left Ukraine. Many jobs were lost, many of them provided by the Russian Federation.
Many factories also closed down, there are typical examples. Meanwhile the equipment of the USSR became obsolete.
The Ukrainian economy collapsed along with Ukrainian society. And this is not only the fault of the West.
US agents control agencies in Ukraine. The country has become a colony.
The Russian language does not exist in schools. The Russian-speaking people of Ukraine are oppressed, that's a fact. There are documents.
The current leadership of Ukraine does not meet the expectations of the Ukrainian people. Crimea made its decision to be in the Russian Federation in 2014.
Their aim is to confront Russia. They say they can keep the Russians in the Donbas isolated, they want to contain them. And with the support of the West they think they can confront Russia. They want to get nuclear weapons.
They want to destabilise Europe. We see that the West is supplying Ukraine with weapons. NATO detachments have also been deployed.
Ukraine's airspace is open to NATO aircraft and allows spying on Ukraine. Black Sea ports are also used.
They wanted the same thing in Crimea, but there the people said no. The Ukrainians want to forget all that.
One country cannot be safe at the expense of another country. The strengthening of Kiev's defences must not be directed against Russia.
All the states that last became members of NATO were used by the Americans for anti-Russian policies. NATO has positioned conditions for Ukraine's membership in NATO.
And despite the assurances, the central and eastern NATO countries were given the possibility of becoming NATO members. These countries have their own complexes. And they took advantage of our goodwill.
In 2000 when Clinton came to Moscow how many Americans asked him about NATO expansion? I asked him myself. Then they were providing support to terrorists in North Korea. Caucasus. And I asked why do you want to put us in such a tight spot? He replied that we don't want to see a country as big as Russia next to Europe.
The West is strengthening the military infrastructure of the Alliance. Mutual trust between Russia and the West has been lost. In Romania, they have developed assault weapons, assault weapons. They are constantly expanding.
We have every reason to believe that a decision has been taken to expand further eastwards. We know. There is a possibility of an attack on Russia.
If our ancestors had heard this, they would not have believed it. The Ukrainians don't want it either. They do not want to see NATO weapons in their country and spy planes in the air.
We will never agree to the further expansion of NATO. Russia has responsibilities for global security. We wanted guarantees in writing but were told that only NATO members could have them. Our proposals were not listened to. They brought the discussion to other issues beyond the main one.
We proposed the non-deployment of offensive weapons on Russia's borders. But they tell us the same thing. That every state has the right to strengthen its security and they are blackmailing us with sanctions. But Russia is strong and modern. Sanctions will not hold back the development of our country.
They want to hurt our interests. We have no response from the US. And we plan to act.
In Donbass, Kiev does not want to implement the Minsk agreements. They want a war with casualties. They are bombing settlements in Donbass, civilians, old people, women, children.
How can Westerners tolerate this? The Russian-speakers do not want to support the 2014 coup.
Their rights are violated, they are forbidden to speak the Russian language.
The idea of an aggressive regime is the same, since they hijacked power in 2014. They have no other way than violence.
I recognise the independence of the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. I will also sign a pact of friendship.
I have the support of all the peoples of Russia!
