WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.300 --> 00:00:06.373 Citizens of Russia, friends, 2 00:00:06.373 --> 00:00:11.722 My address concerns the events in Ukraine and why this is 3 00:00:11.722 --> 00:00:16.406 so important for us, for Russia. 4 00:00:16.406 --> 00:00:23.450 Of course, my message is also addressed to our compatriots in Ukraine. 5 00:00:23.450 --> 00:00:31.745 The matter is very serious and needs to be discussed in depth. 6 00:00:31.745 --> 00:00:36.499 The situation in Donbass has reached a critical, 7 00:00:36.499 --> 00:00:43.334 acute stage. I am speaking to you directly today not only to explain 8 00:00:43.334 --> 00:00:47.280 what is happening but also to inform you of the decisions being made 9 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:51.066 as well as potential further steps. 10 00:00:51.066 --> 00:00:54.026 I would like to emphasise again that Ukraine is not just 11 00:00:54.026 --> 00:00:56.017 a neighbouring country for us. 12 00:00:56.017 --> 00:00:59.317 It is an inalienable part of our own history, 13 00:00:59.317 --> 00:01:02.568 culture and spiritual space. 14 00:01:02.568 --> 00:01:05.853 These are our comrades, those dearest to us – 15 00:01:05.853 --> 00:01:09.918 not only colleagues, friends and people who once served together, 16 00:01:09.918 --> 00:01:16.733 but also relatives, people bound by blood, by family ties. 17 00:01:16.733 --> 00:01:20.413 Since time immemorial, the people living in the south-west of what has 18 00:01:20.413 --> 00:01:22.473 historically been Russian land have called themselves 19 00:01:22.473 --> 00:01:24.862 Russians and Orthodox Christians. 20 00:01:24.862 --> 00:01:27.309 This was the case before the 17th century, 21 00:01:27.309 --> 00:01:34.555 when a portion of this territory rejoined the Russian state, and after. 22 00:01:34.555 --> 00:01:38.521 It seems to us that, generally speaking, we all know these facts, 23 00:01:38.521 --> 00:01:42.191 that this is common knowledge. 24 00:01:42.191 --> 00:01:46.107 Still, it is necessary to say at least a few words about the history 25 00:01:46.107 --> 00:01:51.061 of this issue in order to understand what is happening today, 26 00:01:51.061 --> 00:01:57.552 to explain the motives behind Russia’s actions and what we aim to achieve. 27 00:01:57.552 --> 00:02:05.266 So, I will start with the fact that modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia 28 00:02:05.266 --> 00:02:08.755 or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik,Communist Russia. 29 00:02:08.755 --> 00:02:13.466 This process started practically right after the 1917 30 00:02:13.466 --> 00:02:18.839 revolution, and Lenin and his associates did it in a way that was 31 00:02:18.839 --> 00:02:24.382 extremely harsh on Russia – by separating, 32 00:02:24.382 --> 00:02:31.235 severing what is historically Russian land. 33 00:02:31.235 --> 00:02:37.671 Nobody asked the millions of people living there what they thought. 34 00:02:37.671 --> 00:02:41.673 Then, both before and after the Great Patriotic War, 35 00:02:41.673 --> 00:02:46.345 Stalin incorporated in the USSR and transferred to Ukraine some lands 36 00:02:46.345 --> 00:02:50.051 that previously belonged to Poland, Romania and Hungary. 37 00:02:50.051 --> 00:02:57.652 In the process, he gave Poland part of what was traditionally German land as compensation, 38 00:02:57.652 --> 00:03:03.302 and in 1954, Khrushchev took Crimea away from Russia 39 00:03:03.302 --> 00:03:06.160 for some reason and also gave it to Ukraine. 40 00:03:06.160 --> 00:03:11.898 In effect, this is how the territory of modern Ukraine was formed. 41 00:03:11.898 --> 00:03:18.035 But now I would like to focus attention on the initial period of the USSR’s formation. 42 00:03:18.035 --> 00:03:21.766 I believe this is extremely important for us. 43 00:03:21.766 --> 00:03:25.455 I will have to approach it from a distance, so to speak. 44 00:03:25.455 --> 00:03:30.100 I will remind you that after the 1917 October Revolution 45 00:03:30.100 --> 00:03:36.672 and the subsequent Civil War, the Bolsheviks set about creating a new statehood. 46 00:03:36.672 --> 00:03:40.585 They had rather serious disagreements among themselves on this point. 47 00:03:40.585 --> 00:03:45.022 In 1922, Stalin occupied the positions of both the General Secretary 48 00:03:45.022 --> 00:03:47.852 of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) 49 00:03:47.852 --> 00:03:51.380 and the People’s Commissar for Ethnic Affairs. 50 00:03:51.380 --> 00:03:55.428 He suggested building the country on the principles of autonomisation 51 00:03:55.428 --> 00:04:00.242 that is, giving the republics – the future administrative and territorial entities 52 00:04:00.242 --> 00:04:05.257 – broad powers upon joining a unified state. 53 00:04:05.257 --> 00:04:09.199 Lenin criticised this plan and suggested making concessions 54 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:14.033 to the nationalists, whom he called “independents” at that time. 55 00:04:14.033 --> 00:04:18.997 Lenin’s ideas of what amounted in essence to a confederative state arrangement 56 00:04:18.997 --> 00:04:23.961 and a slogan about the right of nations to self-determination, up to secession, 57 00:04:23.961 --> 00:04:27.065 were laid in the foundation of Soviet statehood. 58 00:04:27.065 --> 00:04:32.558 Initially they were confirmed in the Declaration on the Formation 59 00:04:32.558 --> 00:04:37.136 of the USSR in 1922, and later on, after Lenin’s death, 60 00:04:37.136 --> 00:04:41.767 were enshrined in the 1924 Soviet Constitution. 61 00:04:41.767 --> 00:04:45.142 This immediately raises many questions. 62 00:04:45.142 --> 00:04:50.619 The first is really the main one: why was it necessary to appease the nationalists, 63 00:04:50.619 --> 00:04:58.710 to satisfy the ceaselessly growing nationalist ambitions on the outskirts of the former empire? 64 00:04:58.710 --> 00:05:03.673 What was the point of transferring to the newly, often arbitrarily formed administrative 65 00:05:03.673 --> 00:05:11.723 units – the union republics – vast territories that had nothing to do with them? 66 00:05:11.723 --> 00:05:16.019 Let me repeat that these territories were transferred along with the population of what was historically Russia. 67 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:21.973 Moreover, these administrative units were de facto given the status 68 00:05:21.973 --> 00:05:25.125 and form of national state entities. 69 00:05:25.125 --> 00:05:29.778 That raises another question: why was it necessary to make such 70 00:05:29.778 --> 00:05:34.286 generous gifts, beyond the wildest dreams of the most zealous 71 00:05:34.286 --> 00:05:36.976 nationalists and, on top of all that, 72 00:05:36.976 --> 00:05:40.287 give the republics the right to secede from the unified 73 00:05:40.287 --> 00:05:43.036 state without any conditions? 74 00:05:43.036 --> 00:05:46.528 At first glance, this looks absolutely incomprehensible, even crazy. 75 00:05:46.528 --> 00:05:51.597 But only at first glance. There is an explanation. 76 00:05:51.597 --> 00:05:56.910 After the revolution, the Bolsheviks’ main goal was to stay in power 77 00:05:56.910 --> 00:05:59.836 at all costs, absolutely at all costs. 78 00:05:59.836 --> 00:06:05.545 They did everything for this purpose: accepted the humiliating Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 79 00:06:05.545 --> 00:06:09.264 although the military and economic situation 80 00:06:09.264 --> 00:06:12.812 in Kaiser Germany and its allies was dramatic and the outcome 81 00:06:12.812 --> 00:06:16.076 of the First World War was a foregone conclusion, 82 00:06:16.076 --> 00:06:23.463 and satisfied any demands and wishes of the nationalists within the country. 83 00:06:23.463 --> 00:06:27.501 When it comes to the historical destiny of Russia and its peoples, 84 00:06:27.501 --> 00:06:31.654 Lenin’s principles of state development were not just a mistake; 85 00:06:31.654 --> 00:06:35.948 they were worse than a mistake, as the saying goes. 86 00:06:35.948 --> 00:06:44.024 This became patently clear after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. 87 00:06:44.024 --> 00:06:47.430 Of course, we cannot change past events, 88 00:06:47.430 --> 00:06:51.547 but we must at least admit them openly and honestly, 89 00:06:51.547 --> 00:06:56.872 without any reservations or politicking. 90 00:06:56.872 --> 00:07:01.975 Personally, I can add that no political factors, 91 00:07:01.975 --> 00:07:07.414 however impressive or profitable they may seem at any given moment, 92 00:07:07.414 --> 00:07:15.969 can or may be used as the fundamental principles of statehood. 93 00:07:15.969 --> 00:07:19.323 I am not trying to put the blame on anyone. 94 00:07:19.323 --> 00:07:22.600 The situation in the country at that time, 95 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:25.409 both before and after the Civil War, 96 00:07:25.409 --> 00:07:28.584 was extremely complicated; it was critical. 97 00:07:28.584 --> 00:07:32.450 The only thing I would like to say today is that this is 98 00:07:32.450 --> 00:07:36.176 exactly how it was. It is a historical fact. 99 00:07:36.176 --> 00:07:38.564 Actually, as I have already said, 100 00:07:38.564 --> 00:07:42.701 Soviet Ukraine is the result of the Bolsheviks’ policy and can be 101 00:07:42.701 --> 00:07:51.507 rightfully called “Vladimir Lenin’s Ukraine.” 102 00:07:51.507 --> 00:07:55.576 He was its creator and architect. 103 00:07:55.576 --> 00:08:00.279 This is fully and comprehensively corroborated by archival documents, 104 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:03.252 including Lenin’s harsh instructions regarding Donbass, 105 00:08:03.252 --> 00:08:06.990 which was actually shoved into Ukraine. 106 00:08:06.990 --> 00:08:14.559 And today the “grateful progeny” has overturned monuments to Lenin in Ukraine. 107 00:08:14.559 --> 00:08:18.406 They call it decommunization. 108 00:08:18.406 --> 00:08:20.931 You want decommunization? 109 00:08:20.931 --> 00:08:23.914 Very well, this suits us just fine. 110 00:08:23.914 --> 00:08:28.524 But why stop halfway? We are ready to show what real 111 00:08:28.524 --> 00:08:33.940 decommunizations would mean for Ukraine. 112 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:39.706 Going back to history, I would like to repeat that the Soviet Union was 113 00:08:39.706 --> 00:08:44.672 established in the place of the former Russian Empire in 1922. 114 00:08:44.672 --> 00:08:49.992 But practice showed immediately that it was impossible to preserve 115 00:08:49.992 --> 00:08:55.209 or govern such a vast and complex territory on the amorphous principles 116 00:08:55.209 --> 00:08:58.651 that amounted to confederation. 117 00:08:58.651 --> 00:09:04.496 They were far removed from reality and the historical tradition. 118 00:09:04.496 --> 00:09:09.423 It is logical that the Red Terror and a rapid slide into Stalin’s dictatorship, 119 00:09:09.423 --> 00:09:11.358 the domination of the communist ideology 120 00:09:11.358 --> 00:09:13.905 and the Communist Party’s monopoly on power, 121 00:09:13.905 --> 00:09:17.159 nationalisation and the planned economy – 122 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:22.714 all this transformed the formally declared but ineffective principles 123 00:09:22.714 --> 00:09:26.730 of government into a mere declaration. 124 00:09:26.730 --> 00:09:32.934 In reality, the union republics did not have any sovereign rights, none at all. 125 00:09:32.934 --> 00:09:40.415 The practical result was the creation of a tightly centralised and absolutely unitary state. 126 00:09:40.415 --> 00:09:49.355 In fact, what Stalin fully implemented was not Lenin’s but his own principles of government. 127 00:09:49.355 --> 00:09:56.940 But he did not make the relevant amendments to the cornerstone documents, to the Constitution, 128 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:00.687 and he did not formally revise Lenin’s principles 129 00:10:00.687 --> 00:10:03.482 underlying the Soviet Union. 130 00:10:03.482 --> 00:10:07.574 From the look of it, there seemed to be no need for that, 131 00:10:07.574 --> 00:10:10.449 because everything seemed to be working well in conditions 132 00:10:10.449 --> 00:10:13.602 of the totalitarian regime, and outwardly it looked wonderful, 133 00:10:13.602 --> 00:10:16.441 attractive and even super-democratic. 134 00:10:16.441 --> 00:10:21.864 And yet, it is a great pity that the fundamental and formally legal 135 00:10:21.864 --> 00:10:27.129 foundations of our state were not promptly cleansed of the odious 136 00:10:27.129 --> 00:10:30.867 and utopian fantasies inspired by the revolution, 137 00:10:30.867 --> 00:10:34.527 which are absolutely destructive for any normal state. 138 00:10:34.527 --> 00:10:37.375 As it often happened in our country before, 139 00:10:37.375 --> 00:10:41.125 nobody gave any thought to the future. 140 00:10:41.125 --> 00:10:45.503 It seems that the Communist Party leaders were convinced that they had 141 00:10:45.503 --> 00:10:49.692 created a solid system of government and that their policies had settled 142 00:10:49.692 --> 00:10:52.814 the ethnic issue for good. 143 00:10:52.814 --> 00:10:55.265 But falsification, misconception, 144 00:10:55.265 --> 00:11:00.529 and tampering with public opinion have a high cost. 145 00:11:00.529 --> 00:11:04.516 The virus of nationalist ambitions is still with us, 146 00:11:04.516 --> 00:11:08.420 and the mine laid at the initial stage to destroy state immunity 147 00:11:08.420 --> 00:11:12.521 to the disease of nationalism was ticking. 148 00:11:12.521 --> 00:11:17.029 As I have already said, the mine was the right of secession from the Soviet Union. 149 00:11:17.029 --> 00:11:24.429 In the mid-1980s, the increasing socioeconomic problems 150 00:11:24.429 --> 00:11:28.537 and the apparent crisis of the planned economy aggravated the ethnic issue, 151 00:11:28.537 --> 00:11:32.952 which essentially was not based on any expectations or unfulfilled dreams of the Soviet peoples 152 00:11:32.952 --> 00:11:38.937 but primarily the growing appetites of the local elites. 153 00:11:38.937 --> 00:11:42.225 However, instead of analysing the situation, 154 00:11:42.225 --> 00:11:46.484 taking appropriate measures, first of all in the economy, 155 00:11:46.484 --> 00:11:51.004 and gradually transforming the political system and government 156 00:11:51.004 --> 00:11:53.946 in a well-considered and balanced manner, 157 00:11:53.946 --> 00:11:57.416 the Communist Party leadership only engaged in open doubletalk about 158 00:11:57.416 --> 00:12:01.189 the revival of the Leninist principle of national self-determination. 159 00:12:01.189 --> 00:12:06.701 Moreover, in the course of power struggle within the Communist Party itself, 160 00:12:06.701 --> 00:12:08.659 each of the opposing sides, 161 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:10.864 in a bid to expand its support base, 162 00:12:10.864 --> 00:12:15.280 started to thoughtlessly incite and encourage nationalist sentiments, 163 00:12:15.280 --> 00:12:18.479 manipulating them and promising their potential supporters 164 00:12:18.479 --> 00:12:21.288 whatever they wished. 165 00:12:21.288 --> 00:12:24.393 Against the backdrop of the superficial and populist rhetoric about 166 00:12:24.393 --> 00:12:29.881 democracy and a bright future based either on a market or a planned economy, 167 00:12:29.881 --> 00:12:34.153 but amid a true impoverishment of people and widespread shortages, 168 00:12:34.153 --> 00:12:37.470 no one among the powers that be was thinking about 169 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:41.717 the inevitable tragic consequences for the country. 170 00:12:41.717 --> 00:12:45.802 Next, they entirely embarked on the track beaten at the inception 171 00:12:45.802 --> 00:12:49.064 of the USSR and pandering to the ambitions of the nationalist elites 172 00:12:49.064 --> 00:12:51.799 nurtured within their own party ranks. 173 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:56.596 But in so doing, they forgot that the CPSU no longer had – thank God – 174 00:12:56.596 --> 00:13:00.410 the tools for retaining power and the country itself, 175 00:13:00.410 --> 00:13:04.160 tools such as state terror and a Stalinist-type dictatorship, 176 00:13:04.160 --> 00:13:08.911 and that the notorious guiding role of the party was disappearing 177 00:13:08.911 --> 00:13:12.975 without a trace, like a morning mist, right before their eyes. 178 00:13:12.975 --> 00:13:17.078 And then, the September 1989 plenary session of the CPSU 179 00:13:17.078 --> 00:13:20.678 Central Committee approved a truly fatal document, 180 00:13:20.678 --> 00:13:23.650 the so-called ethnic policy of the party in modern 181 00:13:23.650 --> 00:13:27.251 conditions, the CPSU platform. 182 00:13:27.251 --> 00:13:30.056 It included the following provisions, 183 00:13:30.056 --> 00:13:34.185 I quote: “The republics of the USSR shall possess all the rights 184 00:13:34.185 --> 00:13:39.459 appropriate to their status as sovereign socialist states.” 185 00:13:39.459 --> 00:13:45.359 The next point: “The supreme representative bodies of power of the USSR republics 186 00:13:45.359 --> 00:13:49.101 can challenge and suspend the operation of the USSR 187 00:13:49.101 --> 00:13:52.819 Government’s resolutions and directives in their territory.” 188 00:13:52.819 --> 00:13:58.997 And finally: “Each republic of the USSR shall have citizenship of its own, 189 00:13:58.997 --> 00:14:02.930 which shall apply to all of its residents.” 190 00:14:02.930 --> 00:14:08.454 Wasn’t it clear what these formulas and decisions would lead to? 191 00:14:08.454 --> 00:14:12.563 Now is not the time or place to go into matters pertaining to state 192 00:14:12.563 --> 00:14:17.585 or constitutional law, or define the concept of citizenship. 193 00:14:17.585 --> 00:14:22.247 But one may wonder: why was it necessary to rock the country even more 194 00:14:22.247 --> 00:14:28.593 in that already complicated situation? The facts remain. 195 00:14:28.593 --> 00:14:31.579 Even two years before the collapse of the USSR, 196 00:14:31.579 --> 00:14:35.137 its fate was actually predetermined. 197 00:14:35.137 --> 00:14:38.082 It is now that radicals and nationalists, 198 00:14:38.082 --> 00:14:39.947 including and primarily those in Ukraine, 199 00:14:39.947 --> 00:14:42.888 are taking credit for having gained independence. 200 00:14:42.888 --> 00:14:45.764 As we can see, this is absolutely wrong. 201 00:14:45.764 --> 00:14:48.665 The disintegration of our united country was brought about 202 00:14:48.665 --> 00:14:54.325 by the historic, strategic mistakes on the part of the Bolshevik leaders and the CPSU leadership, 203 00:14:54.325 --> 00:14:58.527 mistakes committed at different times in state-building and in economic 204 00:14:58.527 --> 00:15:02.386 and ethnic policies. The collapse of the historical Russia known 205 00:15:02.386 --> 00:15:06.387 as the USSR is on their conscience. 206 00:15:06.387 --> 00:15:11.137 Despite all these injustices, lies and outright pillage of Russia, 207 00:15:11.137 --> 00:15:16.175 it was our people who accepted the new geopolitical reality that took 208 00:15:16.175 --> 00:15:18.813 shape after the dissolution of the USSR, 209 00:15:18.813 --> 00:15:21.456 and recognised the new independent states. 210 00:15:21.456 --> 00:15:24.768 Not only did Russia recognise these countries, 211 00:15:24.768 --> 00:15:28.111 but helped its CIS partners, even though it faced a very 212 00:15:28.111 --> 00:15:29.695 dire situation itself. 213 00:15:29.695 --> 00:15:32.224 This included our Ukrainian colleagues, 214 00:15:32.224 --> 00:15:36.742 who turned to us for financial support many times from the very moment 215 00:15:36.742 --> 00:15:40.061 they declared independence. 216 00:15:40.061 --> 00:15:43.569 Our country provided this assistance while respecting 217 00:15:43.569 --> 00:15:47.357 Ukraine’s dignity and sovereignty. 218 00:15:47.357 --> 00:15:49.973 According to expert assessments, 219 00:15:49.973 --> 00:15:54.470 confirmed by a simple calculation of our energy prices, 220 00:15:54.470 --> 00:15:59.289 the subsidised loans Russia provided to Ukraine along with economic 221 00:15:59.289 --> 00:16:04.308 and trade preferences, the overall benefit for the Ukrainian budget 222 00:16:04.308 --> 00:16:10.908 in the period from 1991 to 2013 amounted to $250 billion. 223 00:16:10.908 --> 00:16:12.723 However, there was more to it than that. 224 00:16:12.723 --> 00:16:24.833 By the end of 1991, the USSR owed some $100 billion to other countries and international funds. 225 00:16:24.833 --> 00:16:29.183 Initially, there was this idea that all former Soviet republics will 226 00:16:29.183 --> 00:16:32.837 pay back these loans together, in the spirit of solidarity 227 00:16:32.837 --> 00:16:37.128 and proportionally to their economic potential. 228 00:16:37.128 --> 00:16:41.947 However, Russia undertook to pay back all Soviet debts and delivered 229 00:16:41.947 --> 00:16:48.743 on this promise by completing this process in 2017. 230 00:16:48.743 --> 00:16:53.123 In exchange for that, the newly independent states had to hand over 231 00:16:53.123 --> 00:16:56.263 to Russia part of the Soviet foreign assets. 232 00:16:56.263 --> 00:17:03.883 An agreement to this effect was reached with Ukraine in December 1994. 233 00:17:03.883 --> 00:17:08.537 However, Kiev failed to ratify these agreements and later simply 234 00:17:08.537 --> 00:17:13.065 refused to honour them by making demands for a share of the Diamond Treasury, 235 00:17:13.065 --> 00:17:16.219 gold reserves, as well as former USSR property 236 00:17:16.219 --> 00:17:19.764 and other assets abroad. 237 00:17:19.764 --> 00:17:23.702 Nevertheless, despite all these challenges, 238 00:17:23.702 --> 00:17:28.495 Russia always worked with Ukraine in an open and honest manner and, 239 00:17:28.495 --> 00:17:31.830 as I have already said, with respect for its interests. 240 00:17:31.830 --> 00:17:35.484 We developed our ties in multiple fields. 241 00:17:35.484 --> 00:17:42.424 Thus, in 2011, bilateral trade exceeded $50 billion. 242 00:17:42.424 --> 00:17:47.062 Let me note that in 2019, that is before the pandemic, 243 00:17:47.062 --> 00:17:52.604 Ukraine’s trade with all EU countries combined was below this indicator. 244 00:17:52.604 --> 00:17:56.973 At the same time, it was striking how the Ukrainian authorities always 245 00:17:56.973 --> 00:18:00.456 preferred dealing with Russia in a way that ensured that they enjoy all 246 00:18:00.456 --> 00:18:04.116 the rights and privileges while remaining free from any obligations. 247 00:18:04.116 --> 00:18:08.967 The officials in Kiev replaced partnership with a parasitic attitude 248 00:18:08.967 --> 00:18:14.748 acting at times in an extremely brash manner. 249 00:18:14.748 --> 00:18:18.792 Suffice it to recall the continuous blackmail on energy transits 250 00:18:18.792 --> 00:18:21.864 and the fact that they literally stole gas. 251 00:18:21.864 --> 00:18:26.026 I can add that Kiev tried to use dialogue with Russia as a bargaining 252 00:18:26.026 --> 00:18:28.600 chip in its relations with the West, 253 00:18:28.600 --> 00:18:33.603 using the threat of closer ties with Russia for blackmailing the West 254 00:18:33.603 --> 00:18:36.466 to secure preferences by claiming that otherwise Russia 255 00:18:36.466 --> 00:18:39.059 would have a bigger influence in Ukraine. 256 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:41.277 At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities – 257 00:18:41.277 --> 00:18:44.327 I would like to emphasise this – 258 00:18:44.327 --> 00:18:49.263 began by building their statehood on the negation of everything that united us, 259 00:18:49.263 --> 00:18:52.733 trying to distort the mentality and historical memory 260 00:18:52.733 --> 00:18:57.202 of millions of people, of entire generations living in Ukraine. 261 00:18:57.202 --> 00:19:01.249 It is not surprising that Ukrainian society was faced with the rise 262 00:19:01.249 --> 00:19:07.259 of far-right nationalism, which rapidly developed into aggressive Russophobia and neo-Nazism. 263 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:10.908 This resulted in the participation of Ukrainian nationalists 264 00:19:10.908 --> 00:19:15.351 and neo-Nazis in the terrorist groups in the North Caucasus 265 00:19:15.351 --> 00:19:20.688 and the increasingly loud territorial claims to Russia. 266 00:19:20.688 --> 00:19:23.290 A role in this was played by external forces, 267 00:19:23.290 --> 00:19:27.471 which used a ramified network of NGOs and special services to nurture 268 00:19:27.471 --> 00:19:32.608 their clients in Ukraine and to bring their representatives to the seats of authority. 269 00:19:32.608 --> 00:19:38.869 It should be noted that Ukraine actually never had stable traditions of real statehood. 270 00:19:38.869 --> 00:19:44.200 And, therefore, in 1991 it opted for mindlessly emulating foreign 271 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:50.898 models, which have no relation to history or Ukrainian realities. 272 00:19:50.898 --> 00:19:54.625 Political government institutions were readjusted many times 273 00:19:54.625 --> 00:19:58.665 to the rapidly growing clans and their self-serving interests, 274 00:19:58.665 --> 00:20:03.183 which had nothing to do with the interests of the Ukrainian people. 275 00:20:03.183 --> 00:20:07.911 Essentially, the so-called pro-Western civilisational choice made 276 00:20:07.911 --> 00:20:12.128 by the oligarchic Ukrainian authorities was not and is not aimed 277 00:20:12.128 --> 00:20:16.143 at creating better conditions in the interests of people’s well-being 278 00:20:16.143 --> 00:20:20.461 but at keeping the billions of dollars that the oligarchs have stolen 279 00:20:20.461 --> 00:20:25.089 from the Ukrainians and are holding in their accounts in Western banks, 280 00:20:25.089 --> 00:20:29.751 while reverently accommodating the geopolitical rivals of Russia. 281 00:20:29.751 --> 00:20:33.559 Some industrial and financial groups and the parties and politicians 282 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:39.033 on their payroll relied on the nationalists and radicals from the very beginning. 283 00:20:39.033 --> 00:20:42.071 Others claimed to be in favour of good relations with Russia 284 00:20:42.071 --> 00:20:45.636 and cultural and language diversity, 285 00:20:45.636 --> 00:20:50.125 coming to power with the help of their citizens who sincerely supported 286 00:20:50.145 --> 00:20:54.252 their declared aspirations, including the millions of people in the south-eastern regions. 287 00:20:54.252 --> 00:20:56.667 But after getting the positions they coveted, 288 00:20:56.667 --> 00:20:59.527 these people immediately betrayed their voters, 289 00:20:59.527 --> 00:21:03.718 going back on their election promises and instead steering a policy 290 00:21:03.718 --> 00:21:07.843 prompted by the radicals and sometimes even persecuting their former 291 00:21:07.843 --> 00:21:11.370 allies – the public organisations that supported 292 00:21:11.370 --> 00:21:14.322 bilingualism and cooperation with Russia. 293 00:21:14.322 --> 00:21:17.941 These people took advantage of the fact that their voters were mostly 294 00:21:17.941 --> 00:21:22.551 law-abiding citizens with moderate views who trusted the authorities, 295 00:21:22.551 --> 00:21:25.574 and that, unlike the radicals, they would not act 296 00:21:25.574 --> 00:21:29.033 aggressively or make use of illegal instruments. 297 00:21:29.033 --> 00:21:31.713 Meanwhile, the radicals became increasingly brazen in their actions 298 00:21:31.713 --> 00:21:34.574 and made more demands every year. 299 00:21:34.574 --> 00:21:39.118 They found it easy to force their will on the weak authorities, 300 00:21:39.118 --> 00:21:43.807 which were infected with the virus of nationalism and corruption 301 00:21:43.807 --> 00:21:47.382 as well and which artfully replaced the real cultural, 302 00:21:47.382 --> 00:21:51.386 economic and social interests of the people and Ukraine’s true 303 00:21:51.406 --> 00:21:59.290 sovereignty with various ethnic speculations and formal ethnic attributes. 304 00:21:59.290 --> 00:22:02.893 A stable statehood has never developed in Ukraine; 305 00:22:02.893 --> 00:22:06.242 its electoral and other political procedures just serve as a cover, 306 00:22:06.242 --> 00:22:09.516 a screen for the redistribution of power and property 307 00:22:09.516 --> 00:22:14.397 between various oligarchic clans. 308 00:22:14.397 --> 00:22:18.772 Corruption, which is certainly a challenge and a problem for many countries, 309 00:22:18.772 --> 00:22:24.249 including Russia, has gone beyond the usual scope in Ukraine. 310 00:22:24.249 --> 00:22:27.974 It has literally permeated and corroded Ukrainian statehood, 311 00:22:27.974 --> 00:22:31.049 the entire system, and all branches of power. 312 00:22:31.049 --> 00:22:34.948 Radical nationalists took advantage of the justified public discontent 313 00:22:34.948 --> 00:22:37.937 and saddled the Maidan protest, 314 00:22:37.937 --> 00:22:41.697 escalating it to a coup d'état in 2014. 315 00:22:41.697 --> 00:22:46.045 They also had direct assistance from foreign states. 316 00:22:46.045 --> 00:22:51.147 According to reports, the US Embassy provided $1 million a day 317 00:22:51.147 --> 00:22:57.175 to support the so-called protest camp on Independence Square in Kiev. 318 00:22:57.175 --> 00:23:01.152 In addition, large amounts were impudently transferred directly 319 00:23:01.152 --> 00:23:04.778 to the opposition leaders’ bank accounts, 320 00:23:04.778 --> 00:23:07.167 tens of millions of dollars. 321 00:23:07.167 --> 00:23:10.714 But the people who actually suffered, 322 00:23:10.714 --> 00:23:14.290 the families of those who died in the clashes provoked in the streets 323 00:23:14.290 --> 00:23:16.954 and squares of Kiev and other cities, 324 00:23:16.954 --> 00:23:19.962 how much did they get in the end? Better not ask. 325 00:23:19.962 --> 00:23:23.699 The nationalists who have seized power have unleashed a persecution, 326 00:23:23.699 --> 00:23:26.582 a real terror campaign against those who opposed their 327 00:23:26.582 --> 00:23:28.784 anti-constitutional actions. 328 00:23:28.784 --> 00:23:32.874 Politicians, journalists, and public activists were 329 00:23:32.874 --> 00:23:35.469 harassed and publicly humiliated. 330 00:23:35.469 --> 00:23:38.837 A wave of violence swept Ukrainian cities, 331 00:23:38.837 --> 00:23:43.488 including a series of high-profile and unpunished murders. 332 00:23:43.488 --> 00:23:48.539 One shudders at the memories of the terrible tragedy in Odessa, 333 00:23:48.539 --> 00:23:51.708 where peaceful protesters were brutally murdered, 334 00:23:51.708 --> 00:23:55.836 burned alive in the House of Trade Unions. 335 00:23:55.836 --> 00:23:59.699 The criminals who committed that atrocity have never been punished, 336 00:23:59.699 --> 00:24:01.872 and no one is even looking for them. 337 00:24:01.872 --> 00:24:08.666 But we know their names and we will do everything to punish them, 338 00:24:08.666 --> 00:24:13.389 find them and bring them to justice. 339 00:24:13.389 --> 00:24:16.594 Maidan did not bring Ukraine any closer to democracy and progress. 340 00:24:16.594 --> 00:24:18.660 Having accomplished a coup d'état, 341 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:22.505 the nationalists and those political forces that supported them 342 00:24:22.505 --> 00:24:25.775 eventually led Ukraine into an impasse, 343 00:24:25.775 --> 00:24:29.196 pushed the country into the abyss of civil war. 344 00:24:29.196 --> 00:24:32.815 Eight years later, the country is split. 345 00:24:32.815 --> 00:24:36.435 Ukraine is struggling with an acute socioeconomic crisis. 346 00:24:36.435 --> 00:24:43.153 According to international organisations, in 2019, 347 00:24:43.153 --> 00:24:46.242 almost 6 million Ukrainians – I emphasise – 348 00:24:46.242 --> 00:24:49.044 about 15 percent, not of the wokrforce, 349 00:24:49.044 --> 00:24:52.277 but of the entire population of that country, 350 00:24:52.277 --> 00:25:01.500 had to go abroad to find work. Most of them do odd jobs. 351 00:25:01.500 --> 00:25:06.274 The following fact is also revealing: since 2020, 352 00:25:06.274 --> 00:25:10.050 over 60,000 doctors and other health workers have left the country 353 00:25:10.050 --> 00:25:12.611 amid the pandemic. 354 00:25:12.611 --> 00:25:17.513 Since 2014, water bills increased by almost a third, 355 00:25:17.513 --> 00:25:20.089 and energy bills grew several times, 356 00:25:20.089 --> 00:25:24.299 while the price of gas for households surged several dozen times. 357 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:27.113 Many people simply do not have the money to pay 358 00:25:27.113 --> 00:25:30.452 for utilities. They literally struggle to survive. 359 00:25:30.452 --> 00:25:35.694 What happened? Why is this all happening? The answer is obvious. 360 00:25:35.694 --> 00:25:45.422 They spent and embezzled the legacy inherited not only from the Soviet era, but also from the Russian Empire. 361 00:25:45.422 --> 00:25:49.612 They lost tens, hundreds of thousands of jobs which enabled people 362 00:25:49.612 --> 00:25:52.759 to earn a reliable income and generate tax revenue, 363 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:55.339 among other things thanks to close cooperation with Russia. 364 00:25:55.339 --> 00:25:58.383 Sectors including machine building, instrument engineering, 365 00:25:58.383 --> 00:26:02.718 electronics, ship and aircraft building have been 366 00:26:02.718 --> 00:26:06.152 undermined or destroyed altogether. 367 00:26:06.152 --> 00:26:10.920 There was a time, however, when not only Ukraine,but the entire Soviet Union took pride in these companies. 368 00:26:10.920 --> 00:26:15.991 In 2021, the Black Sea Shipyard in Nikolayev went out of business. 369 00:26:15.991 --> 00:26:20.223 Its first docks date back to Catherine the Great. 370 00:26:20.223 --> 00:26:22.588 Antonov, the famous manufacturer, 371 00:26:22.588 --> 00:26:26.451 has not made a single commercial aircraft since 2016, while Yuzhmash, 372 00:26:26.451 --> 00:26:30.343 a factory specialising in missile and space equipment, 373 00:26:30.343 --> 00:26:34.439 is nearly bankrupt. The Kremenchug Steel Plant is in a similar situation. 374 00:26:34.439 --> 00:26:37.307 This sad list goes on and on. 375 00:26:37.307 --> 00:26:39.500 As for the gas transportation system, 376 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:42.195 it was built in its entirety by the Soviet Union, 377 00:26:42.195 --> 00:26:45.646 and it has now deteriorated to an extent that using it creates major 378 00:26:45.646 --> 00:26:48.849 risks and comes at a high cost for the environment. 379 00:26:48.849 --> 00:26:53.074 This situation begs the question: poverty, lack of opportunity, 380 00:26:53.074 --> 00:26:56.033 and lost industrial and technological potential – 381 00:26:56.033 --> 00:26:59.929 is this the pro-Western civilisational choice they have been using 382 00:26:59.929 --> 00:27:03.316 for many years to fool millions of people with promises 383 00:27:03.316 --> 00:27:06.127 of heavenly pastures? 384 00:27:06.127 --> 00:27:11.061 It all came down to a Ukrainian economy in tatters and an outright 385 00:27:11.061 --> 00:27:14.227 pillage of the country’s citizens, 386 00:27:14.227 --> 00:27:18.179 while Ukraine itself was placed under external control, 387 00:27:18.179 --> 00:27:22.225 directed not only from the Western capitals, but also on the ground, 388 00:27:22.225 --> 00:27:27.099 as the saying goes, through an entire network of foreign advisors, 389 00:27:27.099 --> 00:27:31.608 NGOs and other institutions present in Ukraine. 390 00:27:31.608 --> 00:27:35.417 They have a direct bearing on all the key appointments and dismissals 391 00:27:35.417 --> 00:27:37.648 and on all branches of power at all levels, 392 00:27:37.648 --> 00:27:40.276 from the central government down to municipalities, 393 00:27:40.276 --> 00:27:42.690 as well as on state-owned companies and corporations, 394 00:27:42.690 --> 00:27:48.752 including Naftogaz, Ukrenergo, Ukrainian Railways, Ukroboronprom, 395 00:27:48.752 --> 00:27:52.878 Ukrposhta, and the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority. 396 00:27:52.878 --> 00:27:55.415 There is no independent judiciary in Ukraine. 397 00:27:55.415 --> 00:27:57.990 The Kiev authorities, at the West’s demand, 398 00:27:57.990 --> 00:28:04.742 delegated the priority right to select members of the supreme judicial bodies, 399 00:28:04.742 --> 00:28:09.285 the Council of Justice and the High Qualifications Commission of Judges, to international organisations. 400 00:28:09.285 --> 00:28:17.898 In addition, the United States directly controls the National Agency on Corruption Prevention, 401 00:28:17.898 --> 00:28:21.557 Anti-Corruption Bureau, 402 00:28:21.557 --> 00:28:23.859 the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office 403 00:28:23.859 --> 00:28:26.778 and the High Anti-Corruption Court. 404 00:28:26.778 --> 00:28:31.532 All this is done under the noble pretext of invigorating efforts against corruption. 405 00:28:31.532 --> 00:28:34.858 All right, but where are the results? 406 00:28:34.858 --> 00:28:40.721 Corruption is flourishing like never before. 407 00:28:40.721 --> 00:28:44.455 Are the Ukrainian people aware that this is how their country is managed? 408 00:28:44.455 --> 00:28:47.759 Do they realise that their country has turned not even into 409 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.901 a political or economic protectorate but has been reduced to a colony 410 00:28:51.901 --> 00:28:55.288 with a puppet regime? The state was privatised. 411 00:28:55.288 --> 00:28:59.716 As a result, the government, which designates itself as the “power of patriots” 412 00:28:59.716 --> 00:29:03.098 no longer acts in a national capacity and consistently 413 00:29:03.098 --> 00:29:07.337 pushes Ukraine towards losing its sovereignty. 414 00:29:07.337 --> 00:29:11.725 The policy to root out the Russian language and culture and promote assimilation carries on. 415 00:29:11.725 --> 00:29:16.252 The Verkhovna Rada has generated a steady flow of discriminatory bills, 416 00:29:16.252 --> 00:29:20.514 and the law on the so-called indigenous people has already 417 00:29:20.514 --> 00:29:23.651 come into force. People who identify as Russians and want to preserve 418 00:29:23.651 --> 00:29:26.270 their identity, language and culture are getting the signal 419 00:29:26.270 --> 00:29:29.457 that they are not wanted in Ukraine. 420 00:29:29.457 --> 00:29:34.739 Under the laws on education and the Ukrainian language as a state 421 00:29:34.739 --> 00:29:42.421 language, the Russian language has no place in schools or public spaces, even in ordinary shops. 422 00:29:42.421 --> 00:29:45.964 The law on the so-called vetting of officials and purging their ranks 423 00:29:45.964 --> 00:29:49.855 created a pathway for dealing with unwanted civil servants. 424 00:29:49.855 --> 00:29:54.851 There are more and more acts enabling the Ukrainian military and law 425 00:29:54.851 --> 00:29:58.427 enforcement agencies to crack down on the freedom of speech, dissent, 426 00:29:58.427 --> 00:30:00.673 and going after the opposition. 427 00:30:00.673 --> 00:30:03.919 The world knows the deplorable practice of imposing unilateral 428 00:30:03.919 --> 00:30:06.048 illegitimate sanctions against other countries, 429 00:30:06.048 --> 00:30:09.839 foreign individuals and legal entities. 430 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:14.773 Ukraine has outperformed its Western masters by inventing sanctions 431 00:30:14.773 --> 00:30:18.908 against its own citizens, companies, television channels, 432 00:30:18.908 --> 00:30:22.228 other media outlets and even members of parliament. 433 00:30:22.228 --> 00:30:29.790 Kiev continues to prepare the destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. 434 00:30:29.790 --> 00:30:32.850 This is not an emotional judgement; 435 00:30:32.850 --> 00:30:36.380 proof of this can be found in concrete decisions and documents. 436 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:39.695 The Ukrainian authorities have cynically turned the tragedy 437 00:30:39.695 --> 00:30:42.854 of the schism into an instrument of state policy. 438 00:30:42.854 --> 00:30:46.772 The current authorities do not react to the Ukrainian people’s appeals 439 00:30:46.772 --> 00:30:49.948 to abolish the laws that are infringing on believers’ rights. 440 00:30:49.948 --> 00:30:55.181 Moreover, new draft laws directed against the clergy and millions 441 00:30:55.181 --> 00:30:57.516 of parishioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow 442 00:30:57.516 --> 00:31:00.274 Patriarchate have been registered in the Verkhovna Rada. 443 00:31:00.274 --> 00:31:03.037 A few words about Crimea. 444 00:31:03.037 --> 00:31:09.291 The people of the peninsula freely made their choice to be with Russia. 445 00:31:09.291 --> 00:31:13.112 The Kiev authorities cannot challenge the clearly stated choice 446 00:31:13.112 --> 00:31:17.462 of the people, which is why they have opted for aggressive action, 447 00:31:17.462 --> 00:31:19.843 for activating extremist cells, 448 00:31:19.843 --> 00:31:22.992 including radical Islamist organisations, 449 00:31:22.992 --> 00:31:27.831 for sending subversives to stage terrorist attacks at critical 450 00:31:27.831 --> 00:31:32.010 infrastructure facilities, and for kidnapping Russian citizens. 451 00:31:32.010 --> 00:31:39.061 We have factual proof that such aggressive actions are being taken with support from Western security services. 452 00:31:39.061 --> 00:31:45.003 In March 2021, a new Military Strategy was adopted in Ukraine. 453 00:31:45.003 --> 00:31:49.509 This document is almost entirely dedicated to confrontation with Russia 454 00:31:49.509 --> 00:31:53.883 and sets the goal of involving foreign states in a conflict 455 00:31:53.883 --> 00:31:57.880 with our country. The strategy stipulates the organisation of what can 456 00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:00.455 be described as a terrorist underground movement 457 00:32:00.455 --> 00:32:03.285 in Russia’s Crimea and in Donbass. 458 00:32:03.285 --> 00:32:08.862 It also sets out the contours of a potential war, which should end, 459 00:32:08.862 --> 00:32:11.692 according to the Kiev strategists, 460 00:32:11.692 --> 00:32:18.629 “with the assistance of the international community on favourable terms 461 00:32:18.629 --> 00:32:27.950 for Ukraine,” as well as – listen carefully, please – 462 00:32:27.950 --> 00:32:34.719 “with foreign military support in the geopolitical confrontation with the Russian Federation.” 463 00:32:34.719 --> 00:32:40.276 In fact, this is nothing other than preparation for hostilities against our country, Russia. 464 00:32:40.276 --> 00:32:44.431 As we know, it has already been stated today that Ukraine intends 465 00:32:44.431 --> 00:32:47.334 to create its own nuclear weapons, 466 00:32:47.334 --> 00:32:49.782 and this is not just bragging. 467 00:32:49.782 --> 00:32:53.747 Ukraine has the nuclear technologies created back in the Soviet times 468 00:32:53.747 --> 00:32:58.296 and delivery vehicles for such weapons, including aircraft, 469 00:32:58.296 --> 00:33:03.539 as well as the Soviet-designed Tochka-U precision tactical missiles 470 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:06.455 with a range of over 100 kilometres. 471 00:33:06.455 --> 00:33:09.668 But they can do more; it is only a matter of time. 472 00:33:09.668 --> 00:33:11.835 They have had the groundwork for this since the Soviet era. 473 00:33:11.835 --> 00:33:16.383 In other words, acquiring tactical nuclear weapons will be much easier 474 00:33:16.383 --> 00:33:21.481 for Ukraine than for some other states I am not going to mention here, 475 00:33:21.481 --> 00:33:23.669 which are conducting such research, 476 00:33:23.669 --> 00:33:28.354 especially if Kiev receives foreign technological support. 477 00:33:28.354 --> 00:33:30.611 We cannot rule this out either. 478 00:33:30.611 --> 00:33:33.586 If Ukraine acquires weapons of mass destruction, 479 00:33:33.586 --> 00:33:37.221 the situation in the world and in Europe will drastically change, 480 00:33:37.221 --> 00:33:42.249 especially for us, for Russia. 481 00:33:42.249 --> 00:33:45.752 We cannot but react to this real danger, all the more so since, 482 00:33:45.752 --> 00:33:50.955 let me repeat, Ukraine’s Western patrons may help it acquire these 483 00:33:50.955 --> 00:33:55.776 weapons to create yet another threat to our country. 484 00:33:55.776 --> 00:34:01.201 We are seeing how persistently the Kiev regime is being pumped with arms. 485 00:34:01.201 --> 00:34:06.436 Since 2014, the United States alone has spent billions of dollars 486 00:34:06.436 --> 00:34:08.726 for this purpose, including supplies of arms and equipment 487 00:34:08.726 --> 00:34:10.765 and training of specialists. 488 00:34:10.765 --> 00:34:13.971 In the last few months, there has been a constant flow of Western 489 00:34:13.971 --> 00:34:18.251 weapons to Ukraine, ostentatiously, 490 00:34:18.251 --> 00:34:21.622 with the entire world watching. 491 00:34:21.622 --> 00:34:24.349 Foreign advisors supervise the activities of Ukraine’s armed forces 492 00:34:24.349 --> 00:34:27.246 and special services and we are well aware of this. 493 00:34:27.246 --> 00:34:30.797 Over the past few years, military contingents of NATO countries have 494 00:34:30.797 --> 00:34:33.277 been almost constantly present on Ukrainian territory under 495 00:34:33.277 --> 00:34:35.272 the pretext of exercises. 496 00:34:35.272 --> 00:34:39.636 The Ukrainian troop control system has already been integrated into NATO. 497 00:34:39.636 --> 00:34:43.363 This means that NATO headquarters can issue direct commands 498 00:34:43.363 --> 00:34:48.060 to the Ukrainian armed forces, even to their separate units and squads. 499 00:34:48.060 --> 00:34:52.147 The United States and NATO have started an impudent development 500 00:34:52.147 --> 00:34:56.082 of Ukrainian territory as a theatre of potential military operations. 501 00:34:56.082 --> 00:34:59.982 Their regular joint exercises are obviously anti-Russian. 502 00:34:59.982 --> 00:35:03.649 Last year alone, over 23,000 troops and more than 503 00:35:03.649 --> 00:35:06.803 a thousand units of hardware were involved. 504 00:35:06.803 --> 00:35:10.724 A law has already been adopted that allows foreign troops to come 505 00:35:10.724 --> 00:35:16.794 to Ukraine in 2022 to take part in multinational drills. 506 00:35:16.794 --> 00:35:20.364 Understandably, these are primarily NATO troops. 507 00:35:20.364 --> 00:35:26.442 This year, at least ten of these joint drills are planned. 508 00:35:26.442 --> 00:35:30.537 Obviously, such undertakings are designed to be a cover-up for a rapid 509 00:35:30.537 --> 00:35:33.785 buildup of the NATO military group on Ukrainian territory. 510 00:35:33.785 --> 00:35:38.582 This is all the more so since the network of airfields upgraded with US 511 00:35:38.582 --> 00:35:43.715 help in Borispol, Ivano-Frankovsk, Chuguyev and Odessa, to name a few, 512 00:35:43.715 --> 00:35:47.481 is capable of transferring army units in a very short time. 513 00:35:47.481 --> 00:35:50.402 Ukraine’s airspace is open to flights by US strategic 514 00:35:50.402 --> 00:35:55.154 and reconnaissance aircraft and drones that conduct 515 00:35:55.154 --> 00:35:58.444 surveillance over Russian territory. 516 00:35:58.444 --> 00:36:03.356 I will add that the US-built Maritime Operations Centre in Ochakov 517 00:36:03.356 --> 00:36:07.389 makes it possible to support activity by NATO warships, 518 00:36:07.389 --> 00:36:10.249 including the use of precision weapons, 519 00:36:10.249 --> 00:36:14.575 against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and our infrastructure 520 00:36:14.575 --> 00:36:16.775 on the entire Black Sea Coast. 521 00:36:16.775 --> 00:36:20.841 At one time, the United States intended to build similar facilities 522 00:36:20.841 --> 00:36:23.877 in Crimea as well but the Crimeans and residents 523 00:36:23.877 --> 00:36:29.143 of Sevastopol wrecked these plans. We will always remember this. 524 00:36:29.143 --> 00:36:33.239 I would like to repeat that today such a centre has already 525 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:36.136 been deployed in Ochakov. 526 00:36:36.156 --> 00:36:40.810 In the 18th century, soldiers of Alexander Suvorov fought for this city. 527 00:36:40.810 --> 00:36:44.844 Owing to their courage, it became part of Russia. 528 00:36:44.844 --> 00:36:48.592 Also in the 18th century, the lands of the Black Sea littoral, 529 00:36:48.592 --> 00:36:51.889 incorporated in Russia as a result of wars with the Ottoman Empire, 530 00:36:51.909 --> 00:36:54.302 were given the name of Novorossiya (New Russia). 531 00:36:54.302 --> 00:36:57.235 Now attempts are being made to condemn these landmarks 532 00:36:57.235 --> 00:37:00.410 of history to oblivion, along with the names of state and military 533 00:37:00.410 --> 00:37:04.372 figures of the Russian Empire without whose efforts modern Ukraine 534 00:37:04.372 --> 00:37:08.483 would not have many big cities or even access to the Black Sea. 535 00:37:08.483 --> 00:37:12.733 A monument to Alexander Suvorov was recently demolished in Poltava. 536 00:37:12.733 --> 00:37:17.927 What is there to say? Are you renouncing your own past? The so-called 537 00:37:17.927 --> 00:37:22.027 colonial heritage of the Russian Empire? 538 00:37:22.027 --> 00:37:26.855 Well, in this case, be consistent. 539 00:37:26.855 --> 00:37:31.225 Next, notably, Article 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates 540 00:37:31.225 --> 00:37:34.971 that deploying foreign military bases on its territory is illegal. 541 00:37:34.971 --> 00:37:37.838 However, as it turns out, this is just a conventionality 542 00:37:37.838 --> 00:37:40.276 that can be easily circumvented. 543 00:37:40.276 --> 00:37:43.971 Ukraine is home to NATO training missions which are, 544 00:37:43.971 --> 00:37:47.909 in fact, foreign military bases. 545 00:37:47.909 --> 00:37:52.041 They just called a base a mission and were done with it. 546 00:37:52.041 --> 00:37:56.469 Kiev has long proclaimed a strategic course on joining NATO. 547 00:37:56.469 --> 00:38:01.265 Indeed, each country is entitled to pick its own security system 548 00:38:01.265 --> 00:38:03.774 and enter into military alliances. 549 00:38:03.774 --> 00:38:05.730 There would be no problem with that, 550 00:38:05.730 --> 00:38:07.557 if it were not for one “but.” 551 00:38:07.557 --> 00:38:11.133 International documents expressly stipulate the principle of equal 552 00:38:11.133 --> 00:38:16.551 and indivisible security, which includes obligations not to strengthen 553 00:38:16.551 --> 00:38:22.706 one's own security at the expense of the security of other states. 554 00:38:22.706 --> 00:38:28.405 This is stated in the 1999 OSCE Charter for European Security adopted 555 00:38:28.405 --> 00:38:33.415 in Istanbul and the 2010 OSCE Astana Declaration. 556 00:38:33.415 --> 00:38:36.903 In other words, the choice of pathways towards ensuring security should 557 00:38:36.903 --> 00:38:39.731 not pose a threat to other states, 558 00:38:39.731 --> 00:38:45.470 whereas Ukraine joining NATO is a direct threat to Russia's security. 559 00:38:45.470 --> 00:38:51.828 Let me remind you that at the Bucharest NATO summit held in April 2008, 560 00:38:51.828 --> 00:38:55.081 the United States pushed through a decision to the effect that Ukraine 561 00:38:55.081 --> 00:38:57.327 and, by the way, Georgia would become NATO members. 562 00:38:57.327 --> 00:39:02.674 Many European allies of the United States were well aware of the risks 563 00:39:02.674 --> 00:39:05.912 associated with this prospect already then, 564 00:39:05.912 --> 00:39:10.732 but were forced to put up with the will of their senior partner. 565 00:39:10.732 --> 00:39:14.724 The Americans simply used them to carry out a clearly 566 00:39:14.724 --> 00:39:16.203 anti-Russian policy. 567 00:39:16.203 --> 00:39:20.344 A number of NATO member states are still very sceptical 568 00:39:20.344 --> 00:39:22.340 about Ukraine joining NATO. 569 00:39:22.340 --> 00:39:27.220 We are getting signals from some European capitals telling us not 570 00:39:27.220 --> 00:39:30.313 to worry since it will not happen literally overnight. 571 00:39:30.313 --> 00:39:33.599 In fact, our US partners are saying the same thing as well. 572 00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:36.791 “All right, then” we respond, “if it does not happen tomorrow, 573 00:39:36.791 --> 00:39:38.502 then it will happen the day after tomorrow. 574 00:39:38.502 --> 00:39:43.249 What does it change from the historical perspective? Nothing at all.” 575 00:39:43.249 --> 00:39:47.943 Furthermore, we are aware of the US leadership’s position and words 576 00:39:47.943 --> 00:39:52.249 that active hostilities in eastern Ukraine do not rule out 577 00:39:52.249 --> 00:39:55.508 the possibility of that country joining NATO if it meets 578 00:39:55.508 --> 00:40:01.712 NATO criteria and overcomes corruption. 579 00:40:01.712 --> 00:40:04.759 All the while, they are trying to convince us over and over again that 580 00:40:04.759 --> 00:40:09.092 NATO is a peace-loving and purely defensive alliance that 581 00:40:09.092 --> 00:40:12.345 poses no threat to Russia. 582 00:40:12.345 --> 00:40:14.701 Again, they want us to take their word for it. 583 00:40:14.701 --> 00:40:19.250 But we are well aware of the real value of these words. 584 00:40:19.250 --> 00:40:22.937 In 1990, when German unification was discussed, 585 00:40:22.937 --> 00:40:28.585 the United States promised the Soviet leadership that NATO jurisdiction 586 00:40:28.585 --> 00:40:33.841 or military presence will not expand one inch to the east and that 587 00:40:33.841 --> 00:40:38.940 the unification of Germany will not lead to the spread of NATO's 588 00:40:38.940 --> 00:40:43.485 military organisation to the east. This is a quote. 589 00:40:45.445 --> 00:40:48.257 They issued lots of verbal assurances, 590 00:40:48.257 --> 00:40:51.513 all of which turned out to be empty phrases. 591 00:40:51.513 --> 00:40:56.059 Later, they began to assure us that the accession to NATO by Central 592 00:40:56.059 --> 00:40:59.952 and Eastern European countries would only improve relations with Moscow, 593 00:40:59.952 --> 00:41:03.866 relieve these countries of the fears steeped in their bitter 594 00:41:03.866 --> 00:41:07.540 historical legacy, and even create a belt of countries that 595 00:41:07.540 --> 00:41:10.458 are friendly towards Russia. 596 00:41:10.458 --> 00:41:13.204 However, the exact opposite happened. 597 00:41:13.204 --> 00:41:15.491 The governments of certain Eastern European countries, 598 00:41:15.491 --> 00:41:19.668 speculating on Russophobia, brought their complexes and stereotypes 599 00:41:19.668 --> 00:41:24.064 about the Russian threat to the Alliance and insisted on building up 600 00:41:24.064 --> 00:41:26.413 the collective defence potentials and deploying them 601 00:41:26.413 --> 00:41:28.858 primarily against Russia. 602 00:41:28.858 --> 00:41:33.207 Worse still, that happened in the 1990s and the early 2000s when, 603 00:41:33.207 --> 00:41:35.353 thanks to our openness and goodwill, 604 00:41:35.353 --> 00:41:42.218 relations between Russia and the West had reached a high level. 605 00:41:42.778 --> 00:41:45.813 Russia has fulfilled all of its obligations, 606 00:41:45.813 --> 00:41:50.876 including the pullout from Germany, from Central and Eastern Europe, 607 00:41:50.876 --> 00:41:55.900 making an immense contribution to overcoming the legacy of the Cold War. 608 00:41:55.900 --> 00:42:00.111 We have consistently proposed various cooperation options, 609 00:42:00.111 --> 00:42:04.972 including in the NATO-Russia Council and the OSCE formats. 610 00:42:04.972 --> 00:42:10.862 Moreover, I will say something I have never said publicly, 611 00:42:10.862 --> 00:42:13.506 I will say it now for the first time. 612 00:42:13.506 --> 00:42:20.180 When then outgoing US President Bill Clinton visited Moscow in 2000, 613 00:42:20.200 --> 00:42:26.676 I asked him how America would feel about admitting Russia to NATO. 614 00:42:28.156 --> 00:42:31.200 I will not reveal all the details of that conversation, 615 00:42:31.200 --> 00:42:37.142 but the reaction to my question was, let us say, quite restrained, 616 00:42:37.142 --> 00:42:40.640 and the Americans’ true attitude to that possibility can actually be 617 00:42:40.640 --> 00:42:45.983 seen from their subsequent steps with regard to our country. 618 00:42:45.983 --> 00:42:49.896 I am referring to the overt support for terrorists in the North Caucasus, 619 00:42:49.896 --> 00:42:54.486 the disregard for our security demands and concerns, 620 00:42:54.486 --> 00:43:00.134 NATO’s continued expansion, withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, and so on. 621 00:43:00.934 --> 00:43:03.844 It raises the question: why? What is all this about, 622 00:43:03.844 --> 00:43:07.158 what is the purpose? All right, 623 00:43:07.158 --> 00:43:10.462 you do not want to see us as friends or allies, 624 00:43:10.462 --> 00:43:13.659 but why make us an enemy? 625 00:43:14.319 --> 00:43:18.560 There can be only one answer – this is not about our political regime 626 00:43:18.560 --> 00:43:20.260 or anything like that. 627 00:43:20.260 --> 00:43:25.745 They just do not need a big and independent country like Russia around. 628 00:43:25.745 --> 00:43:28.101 This is the answer to all questions. 629 00:43:28.101 --> 00:43:35.013 This is the source of America’s traditional policy towards Russia. 630 00:43:35.013 --> 00:43:38.546 Hence the attitude to all our security proposals. 631 00:43:38.546 --> 00:43:42.986 Today, one glance at the map is enough to see to what extent Western countries 632 00:43:42.986 --> 00:43:46.005 have kept their promise to refrain from NATO’s 633 00:43:46.005 --> 00:43:49.650 eastward expansion. They just cheated. 634 00:43:49.650 --> 00:43:54.464 We have seen five waves of NATO expansion, one after another – 635 00:43:54.464 --> 00:43:59.202 Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were admitted in 1999; 636 00:43:59.202 --> 00:44:02.354 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, 637 00:44:02.354 --> 00:44:07.356 Slovakia and Slovenia in 2004; Albania and Croatia in 2009; 638 00:44:07.356 --> 00:44:12.149 Montenegro in 2017; and North Macedonia in 2020. 639 00:44:12.789 --> 00:44:16.321 As a result, the Alliance, its military infrastructure has 640 00:44:16.321 --> 00:44:19.359 reached Russia’s borders. 641 00:44:19.359 --> 00:44:23.908 This is one of the key causes of the European security crisis; 642 00:44:23.908 --> 00:44:26.911 it has had the most negative impact on the entire system 643 00:44:26.911 --> 00:44:31.541 of international relations and led to the loss of mutual trust. 644 00:44:31.541 --> 00:44:33.688 The situation continues to deteriorate, 645 00:44:33.688 --> 00:44:36.043 including in the strategic area. 646 00:44:36.043 --> 00:44:40.087 Thus, positioning areas for interceptor missiles are being established 647 00:44:40.087 --> 00:44:43.262 in Romania and Poland as part of the US project to create 648 00:44:43.262 --> 00:44:45.624 a global missile defence system. 649 00:44:45.624 --> 00:44:50.319 It is common knowledge that the launchers deployed there can be used 650 00:44:50.319 --> 00:44:54.476 for Tomahawk cruise missiles – offensive strike systems. 651 00:44:55.596 --> 00:44:59.758 In addition, the United States is developing its all-purpose Standard Missile-6, 652 00:44:59.758 --> 00:45:03.693 which can provide air and missile defence, 653 00:45:03.693 --> 00:45:07.616 as well as strike ground and surface targets. 654 00:45:07.616 --> 00:45:11.288 In other words, the allegedly defensive US missile defence system is 655 00:45:11.288 --> 00:45:15.729 developing and expanding its new offensive capabilities. 656 00:45:15.729 --> 00:45:20.417 The information we have gives us good reason to believe that Ukraine’s 657 00:45:20.417 --> 00:45:25.030 accession to NATO and the subsequent deployment of NATO facilities has 658 00:45:25.050 --> 00:45:30.852 already been decided and is only a matter of time. 659 00:45:31.332 --> 00:45:34.099 We clearly understand that given this scenario, 660 00:45:34.099 --> 00:45:37.304 the level of military threats to Russia will increase 661 00:45:37.304 --> 00:45:39.424 dramatically, several times over. 662 00:45:39.424 --> 00:45:43.321 And I would like to emphasise at this point that the risk of a sudden 663 00:45:43.321 --> 00:45:45.710 strike at our country will multiply. 664 00:45:45.710 --> 00:45:51.224 I will explain that American strategic planning documents confirm 665 00:45:52.264 --> 00:45:57.244 the possibility of a so-called preemptive strike at enemy 666 00:45:57.244 --> 00:46:02.576 missile systems. We also know the main adversary of the United States and NATO. 667 00:46:02.576 --> 00:46:04.531 It is Russia. 668 00:46:04.531 --> 00:46:10.234 NATO documents officially declare our country to be the main threat 669 00:46:10.234 --> 00:46:12.249 to Euro-Atlantic security. 670 00:46:12.729 --> 00:46:17.269 Ukraine will serve as an advanced bridgehead for such a strike. 671 00:46:17.689 --> 00:46:20.230 If our ancestors heard about this, 672 00:46:20.230 --> 00:46:23.518 they would probably simply not believe this. 673 00:46:23.518 --> 00:46:26.807 We do not want to believe this today either, 674 00:46:26.807 --> 00:46:28.376 but it is what it is. 675 00:46:29.056 --> 00:46:33.860 I would like people in Russia and Ukraine to understand this. 676 00:46:34.740 --> 00:46:38.827 Many Ukrainian airfields are located not far from our borders. 677 00:46:38.827 --> 00:46:41.364 NATO’s tactical aviation deployed there, 678 00:46:41.364 --> 00:46:43.448 including precision weapon carriers, 679 00:46:43.448 --> 00:46:46.269 will be capable of striking at our territory to the depth 680 00:46:46.269 --> 00:46:49.007 of the Volgograd-Kazan-Samara-Astrakhan line. 681 00:46:49.007 --> 00:46:53.186 The deployment of reconnaissance radars on Ukrainian territory will 682 00:46:53.186 --> 00:46:57.737 allow NATO to tightly control Russia’s airspace up to the Urals. 683 00:46:58.217 --> 00:47:03.410 Finally, after the US destroyed the INF Treaty, 684 00:47:03.410 --> 00:47:08.638 the Pentagon has been openly developing many land-based attack weapons, 685 00:47:08.638 --> 00:47:13.425 including ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting targets 686 00:47:13.425 --> 00:47:15.782 at a distance of up to 5,500 km. 687 00:47:15.782 --> 00:47:19.969 If deployed in Ukraine, such systems will be able to hit targets 688 00:47:19.969 --> 00:47:24.262 in Russia’s entire European part. 689 00:47:24.262 --> 00:47:28.531 The flying time of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Moscow will be less than 690 00:47:28.531 --> 00:47:33.610 35 minutes; ballistic missiles from Kharkov will take seven to eight minutes; 691 00:47:33.610 --> 00:47:35.914 and hypersonic assault weapons, 692 00:47:35.914 --> 00:47:41.688 four to five minutes. It is like a knife to the throat. 693 00:47:41.908 --> 00:47:46.419 I have no doubt that they hope to carry out these plans, 694 00:47:46.419 --> 00:47:51.941 as they did many times in the past, expanding NATO eastward, 695 00:47:51.941 --> 00:47:56.647 moving their military infrastructure to Russian borders and fully 696 00:47:56.647 --> 00:48:00.765 ignoring our concerns, protests and warnings. 697 00:48:02.085 --> 00:48:03.922 Excuse me, but they simply did not care at all about such things 698 00:48:03.922 --> 00:48:07.661 and did whatever they deemed necessary. 699 00:48:07.661 --> 00:48:11.852 Of course, they are going to behave in the same way in the future, 700 00:48:11.852 --> 00:48:16.916 following a well-known proverb: “The dogs bark but the caravan goes on.” 701 00:48:16.916 --> 00:48:20.765 Let me say right away – we do not accept this behaviour and will never accept it. 702 00:48:20.765 --> 00:48:23.922 That said, Russia has always advocated the resolution 703 00:48:23.922 --> 00:48:26.878 of the most complicated problems by political 704 00:48:26.878 --> 00:48:29.651 and diplomatic means, at the negotiating table. 705 00:48:29.651 --> 00:48:32.614 We are well aware of our enormous responsibility when it comes 706 00:48:32.614 --> 00:48:35.058 to regional and global stability. 707 00:48:35.058 --> 00:48:40.095 Back in 2008, Russia put forth an initiative to conclude a European 708 00:48:40.095 --> 00:48:44.613 Security Treaty under which not a single Euro-Atlantic state 709 00:48:44.613 --> 00:48:49.205 or international organisation could strengthen their security 710 00:48:49.205 --> 00:48:52.242 at the expense of the security of others. 711 00:48:53.642 --> 00:48:58.678 However, our proposal was rejected right off the bat on the pretext 712 00:48:58.678 --> 00:49:02.880 that Russia should not be allowed to put limits on NATO activities. 713 00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:07.008 Furthermore, it was made explicitly clear to us that only NATO members 714 00:49:07.008 --> 00:49:10.596 can have legally binding security guarantees. 715 00:49:11.416 --> 00:49:17.216 Last December, we handed over to our Western partners a draft treaty 716 00:49:17.216 --> 00:49:20.777 between the Russian Federation and the United States of America 717 00:49:20.777 --> 00:49:25.607 on security guarantees, as well as a draft agreement on measures 718 00:49:25.607 --> 00:49:28.737 to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and NATO member states. 719 00:49:28.737 --> 00:49:33.296 The United States and NATO responded with general statements. 720 00:49:33.296 --> 00:49:35.752 There were kernels of rationality in them as well, 721 00:49:35.752 --> 00:49:40.406 but they concerned matters of secondary importance and it all looked 722 00:49:40.406 --> 00:49:45.033 like an attempt to drag the issue out and to lead the discussion astray. 723 00:49:45.033 --> 00:49:49.229 We responded to this accordingly and pointed out that we were ready 724 00:49:49.229 --> 00:49:51.583 to follow the path of negotiations, provided, however, 725 00:49:51.583 --> 00:49:56.524 that all issues are considered as a package that includes Russia’s core 726 00:49:56.524 --> 00:50:02.508 proposals which contain three key points. 727 00:50:02.508 --> 00:50:06.294 First, to prevent further NATO expansion. 728 00:50:06.294 --> 00:50:12.378 Second, to have the Alliance refrain from deploying assault weapon systems on Russian borders. 729 00:50:12.378 --> 00:50:15.393 And finally, rolling back the bloc's military capability 730 00:50:15.393 --> 00:50:19.862 and infrastructure in Europe to where they were in 1997, 731 00:50:19.862 --> 00:50:23.453 when the NATO-Russia Founding Act was signed. 732 00:50:23.453 --> 00:50:27.937 These principled proposals of ours have been ignored. 733 00:50:28.697 --> 00:50:35.468 To reiterate, our Western partners have once again vocalised 734 00:50:35.468 --> 00:50:40.431 the all-too-familiar formulas that each state is entitled to freely 735 00:50:40.431 --> 00:50:44.306 choose ways to ensure its security or to join any military 736 00:50:44.306 --> 00:50:50.925 union or alliance. That is, nothing has changed in their stance, 737 00:50:50.925 --> 00:50:54.386 and we keep hearing the same old references to NATO’s 738 00:50:54.386 --> 00:50:56.190 notorious “open door” policy. 739 00:50:56.190 --> 00:51:01.493 Moreover, they are again trying to blackmail us and are threatening us 740 00:51:01.493 --> 00:51:04.032 with sanctions, which, by the way, 741 00:51:04.032 --> 00:51:06.866 they will introduce no matter what as Russia continues to strengthen 742 00:51:06.866 --> 00:51:10.852 its sovereignty and its Armed Forces. 743 00:51:10.852 --> 00:51:16.100 To be sure, they will never think twice before coming up with or just 744 00:51:16.100 --> 00:51:18.954 fabricating a pretext for yet another sanction attack regardless 745 00:51:18.954 --> 00:51:21.295 of the developments in Ukraine. 746 00:51:21.295 --> 00:51:24.920 Their one and only goal is to hold back the development of Russia. 747 00:51:24.920 --> 00:51:29.256 And they will keep doing so, just as they did before, 748 00:51:29.256 --> 00:51:34.902 even without any formal pretext just because we exist and will never 749 00:51:34.902 --> 00:51:40.377 compromise our sovereignty, national interests or values. 750 00:51:41.357 --> 00:51:44.716 I would like to be clear and straightforward: in the current 751 00:51:44.716 --> 00:51:48.652 circumstances, when our proposals for an equal dialogue on fundamental 752 00:51:48.652 --> 00:51:52.699 issues have actually remained unanswered by the United States and NATO, 753 00:51:52.699 --> 00:51:56.323 when the level of threats to our country has increased significantly, 754 00:51:56.323 --> 00:52:02.182 Russia has every right to respond in order to ensure its security. 755 00:52:02.182 --> 00:52:05.468 That is exactly what we will do. 756 00:52:06.928 --> 00:52:09.552 With regard to the state of affairs in Donbass, 757 00:52:09.552 --> 00:52:14.729 we see that the ruling Kiev elites never stop publicly making clear 758 00:52:14.729 --> 00:52:18.679 their unwillingness to comply with the Minsk Package of Measures 759 00:52:18.679 --> 00:52:22.810 to settle the conflict and are not interested in a peaceful settlement. 760 00:52:22.810 --> 00:52:27.251 On the contrary, they are trying to orchestrate a blitzkrieg in Donbass 761 00:52:27.251 --> 00:52:32.244 as was the case in 2014 and 2015. 762 00:52:32.244 --> 00:52:36.205 We all know how these reckless schemes ended. 763 00:52:36.205 --> 00:52:39.660 Not a single day goes by without Donbass communities coming 764 00:52:39.660 --> 00:52:41.424 under shelling attacks. 765 00:52:41.424 --> 00:52:46.239 The recently formed large military force makes use of attack drones, 766 00:52:46.239 --> 00:52:50.769 heavy equipment, missiles, artillery and multiple rocket launchers. 767 00:52:51.389 --> 00:52:55.160 The killing of civilians, the blockade, the abuse of people, 768 00:52:55.160 --> 00:52:57.783 including children, women and the elderly, 769 00:52:57.783 --> 00:53:03.382 continues unabated. As we say, there is no end in sight to this. 770 00:53:03.982 --> 00:53:06.576 Meanwhile, the so-called civilised world, 771 00:53:06.576 --> 00:53:11.037 which our Western colleagues proclaimed themselves the only 772 00:53:11.037 --> 00:53:16.283 representatives of, prefers not to see this, 773 00:53:16.283 --> 00:53:19.451 as if this horror and genocide, 774 00:53:19.451 --> 00:53:22.567 which almost 4 million people are facing, 775 00:53:22.567 --> 00:53:26.187 do not exist. But they do exist and only because these people did not 776 00:53:26.187 --> 00:53:31.620 agree with the West-supported coup in Ukraine in 2014 and opposed 777 00:53:31.620 --> 00:53:38.593 the transition towards the Neanderthal and aggressive nationalism 778 00:53:38.593 --> 00:53:41.490 and neo-Nazism which have been elevated in Ukraine 779 00:53:41.490 --> 00:53:44.691 to the rank of national policy. 780 00:53:44.691 --> 00:53:47.764 They are fighting for their elementary right to live on their own land, 781 00:53:47.764 --> 00:53:52.731 to speak their own language, and to preserve their culture and traditions. 782 00:53:52.731 --> 00:53:59.333 How long can this tragedy continue? How much longer can one put up with this? 783 00:53:59.793 --> 00:54:04.065 Russia has done everything to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity. 784 00:54:04.065 --> 00:54:06.870 All these years, it has persistently and patiently pushed 785 00:54:06.870 --> 00:54:11.104 for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2202 786 00:54:11.104 --> 00:54:15.642 of February 17, 2015, which consolidated the Minsk Package of Measures 787 00:54:15.642 --> 00:54:20.218 of February 12, 2015, to settle the situation in Donbass. 788 00:54:20.218 --> 00:54:22.064 Everything was in vain. 789 00:54:22.064 --> 00:54:24.376 Presidents and Rada deputies come and go, 790 00:54:24.376 --> 00:54:28.879 but deep down the aggressive and nationalistic regime that seized power 791 00:54:28.879 --> 00:54:32.261 in Kiev remains unchanged. 792 00:54:32.261 --> 00:54:37.492 It is entirely a product of the 2014 coup, 793 00:54:37.492 --> 00:54:40.880 and those who then embarked on the path of violence, 794 00:54:40.880 --> 00:54:44.951 bloodshed and lawlessness did not recognise then and do not recognise 795 00:54:44.951 --> 00:54:49.476 now any solution to the Donbass issue other than a military one. 796 00:54:50.916 --> 00:54:56.751 In this regard, I consider it necessary to take a long overdue decision 797 00:54:56.751 --> 00:55:00.715 and to immediately recognise the independence and sovereignty 798 00:55:00.715 --> 00:55:05.531 of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic. 799 00:55:06.011 --> 00:55:08.134 I would like to ask the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation 800 00:55:08.134 --> 00:55:12.637 to support this decision and then ratify the Treaty of Friendship 801 00:55:12.637 --> 00:55:16.738 and Mutual Assistance with both republics. 802 00:55:17.078 --> 00:55:22.181 These two documents will be prepared and signed shortly. 803 00:55:24.281 --> 00:55:29.409 We want those who seized and continue to hold power in Kiev 804 00:55:29.409 --> 00:55:31.944 to immediately stop hostilities. 805 00:55:31.944 --> 00:55:36.074 Otherwise, the responsibility for the possible continuation 806 00:55:36.074 --> 00:55:42.307 of the bloodshed will lie entirely on the conscience of Ukraine’s ruling regime. 807 00:55:43.767 --> 00:55:46.663 As I announce the decisions taken today, 808 00:55:46.663 --> 00:55:48.819 I remain confident in the support of Russia’s citizens 809 00:55:48.819 --> 00:55:52.002 and the country’s patriotic forces. 810 00:55:52.002 --> 00:55:53.494 Thank you.