- Putin announced in his annual address on the nation that this agreement is a “pure theatre”. He has accused the West of being responsible for the war and of “defending” that only Russia is “using force”. He assures that weapons will continue to “mass-produce”.
The President of the United States, Joe Bide, spoke the day after Kieven Volodimir Zelenski had ratified his absolute support. Their annual pact to talk about the state of the nation has outlawed to respond to the Western authorities: “They are responsible for the outbreak of war and we are using force to stop them.”
Putin states that the invasion of Ukraine, called “special intervention”, was driven by the US and NATO, warns that its aim was to reject Russia and impose Western values.
Frozen START agreement
It announces that the START agreement has been “frozen” by Russia. He renewed his alliance with the United States for the control of nuclear weapons in 2021, but now abandons it as a “pure theatre.” This agreement limited the number of nuclear weapons in both countries and had control mechanisms in place to confirm whether the treaty was being respected.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, asks Putin to review his decision. “Less control makes the world more dangerous. That is why I ask you to reconsider the decision to leave the agreement.” According to Stoltenberg, Russia’s decision has led to the “elimination of arms control”. However, the New York Times has announced that in recent months this control has been suspended. The NATO secretary confirms that Western countries have “the right” to send arms to Ukraine to carry out their “self-defence”.
Russia to strengthen the arms industry
Putin praises the Russian economic situation by saying that it has not influenced the restrictive sanctions imposed by the US and the West. It does not mention any negative consequences of the war: “We were told that our economy was going to sink, but it has only dropped 2.1%.”
It states that the Russian arms industry will be strengthened and, taking into account the above measures, announces that the war will last a long time. He pointed out that the challenge of Russian producers is to “produce weapons in mass”. He says they have a plan for the development of the army.
The aggressor is the other
Stoltenberg, NATO secretary, blames Russia: “No one is attacking Russia. Russia is the aggressor. Ukraine is the victim of the attack. We are defending Ukraine’s right to self-defence,” he said at Tuesday’s press conference. Stoltenberg criticizes that Putin started the “imperial war” and is doing the same “war escalation”.
But Putin warns that Ukraine has been supplying weapons for years: “Even before starting a special military operation, Kiev was negotiating with the West to equip it with air defense systems, confrontation planes and other means.” It does not prove, but it says that Ukraine has tried to obtain more nuclear weapons.