Putin demands U.S. respect 'multipolar' world and tell Ukraine to seek peace - The Washington Post

In the speech, delivered to the yearly gathering of the Valdai Discussion Club successful Moscow, Putin portrayed Russia arsenic a champion of rising nations successful a caller multipolar world, which helium demanded that the United States and different Western powers statesman to respect arsenic equals. And seeking communal crushed with the right-wing successful the West, helium described Russia arsenic a defender of accepted Christian values arsenic nine has mislaid its way.

“I americium convinced that sooner oregon aboriginal some the caller centers of a multipolar satellite bid and the West volition person to commencement an adjacent speech astir a communal aboriginal for us, and the sooner the better, of course,” Putin said. He added that helium believed the West was losing its dominance and “quickly becoming a number connected the satellite stage.”

In reality, it is Russia that has grown profoundly isolated arsenic a effect of Putin’s brutal invasion, and his effort to illegally annex 4 regions of Ukraine successful usurpation of planetary law. Earlier this month, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly not to admit Putin’s annexations and calling connected him to reverse course. The results were 143 to 5 with 35 abstentions. The 4 countries to broadside with Russia were Belarus, Nicaragua, North Korea, and Syria.

The Kremlin boasted that aboriginal generations “will work and reread” the speech, but connected Thursday Putin spoke to an assorted assemblage of guests from India, Pakistan, China and Indonesia arsenic good arsenic fringe pro-Kremlin politicians from Moldova who asked him fawning questions astir his imaginativeness for the post-conflict, post-American hegemony world. There were fewer Westerners successful the audience.

Despite making the rivalry with the West a cornerstone of his overseas argumentation and his each time talking points, Putin insisted that Russia does not fundamentally spot itself arsenic the force of the West but alternatively opposes the West’s attempts to instill “strange” and “neoliberal” values successful different societies successful the world.

These alien values, according to Putin, see “cancel culture,” “dozens of cheery parades” and the close to explicit one’s sex identity.

On Thursday, Russia’s little location of parliament, unanimously adopted a instrumentality that bans “propaganda of nontraditional intersexual relations” among Russian citizens, and imposes dense fines for mentioning the LGBTQ+ assemblage successful public.

“There are astatine the precise slightest 2 Wests,” Putin said. One is the West of “traditional, chiefly Christian, values, freedom, patriotism, the richest culture” that Russia is adjacent to. “But determination is different West — aggressive, cosmopolitan, neocolonial, the 1 acting arsenic a instrumentality of the neoliberal elites,” helium continued. “And Russia, of course, volition ne'er enactment up with precisely the dictate of this West.”

In the astir 3-hour code and question-and-answer session, Putin made a fig of far-fetched claims, including that the West instigated the warfare successful Ukraine.

“Unlike the West, we bash not ascent into idiosyncratic else’s yard,” Putin said, asserting that Moscow doesn’t interfere successful the affairs of different states.

In the past 15 years, Russia invaded 2 of its neighbors, Ukraine and Georgia, interceded militarily successful Syria, and spent millions to curry governmental favour successful Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro and different countries.

Putin erstwhile again decried U.S. President Donald Trump’s ordered assassination of Qasem Soleimani, a apical wide successful Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, whom the Pentagon blamed for attacks connected U.S. citizens. “They killed Soleimani connected the territory of different authorities and said: ‘yes, we killed him,’ ” Putin said. “What is that? What satellite are we surviving in?”

Russia has been accused of organizing attacks connected respective Kremlin critics abroad, from assassinations of Chechens successful Germany to poisonings of erstwhile concealed services agents and defectors successful London. Putin’s apical critic, Alexei Navalny, is presently imprisoned successful Russia aft surviving a poisoning attack.

“Whatever comes from Russia is ever labeled arsenic ‘intrigues of the Kremlin,’ ” Putin said. “But look astatine yourself! Are we that powerful? Any disapproval of our opponents is perceived arsenic ‘the manus of the Kremlin,’ but you can’t conscionable blasted everything connected [us.]”

In caller years, Putin’s authorities has grown progressively repressive, cracking down connected governmental absorption figures, journalists, activists, and scholars — labeling hundreds arsenic “foreign agents.”

The sheet moderator, governmental expert Fedor Lukyanov, pressed Putin connected whether Moscow underestimated its opponents successful Ukraine, an implicit notation to battlefield setbacks suffered by the Russian service successful caller weeks, and the wide gait of the warfare that is present entering its ninth period contempt the archetypal Kremlin anticipation that it would rapidly seizure Kyiv.

“The nine doesn’t recognize — what’s the program successful this operation?” Lukyanov continued, alluding to the brewing discontent with Moscow’s subject strategy and an unpopular mobilization thrust that has conscripted 300,000 oregon more, but sent astir hundreds of thousands much fleeing the state to debar being sent to fight.

Putin dismissed the criticism. He said the equilibrium connected the battlefield would person been worse for Russia successful the aboriginal fixed Western supplies of weapons to Ukraine and “the operation of fortified areas.”

Putin besides repeated Russia’s unsupported claims that Ukraine was preparing to usage a “dirty bomb” containing radioactive material. Western leaders person dismissed this accusation arsenic mendacious and a imaginable pretext for Russia to escalate the warfare by its ain usage of specified a weapon.

In erstwhile remarks, Putin has often said that helium is prepared to usage “all disposable means,” hinting astatine Russia’s immense atomic arsenal, but helium insisted Thursday that Russia ne'er openly threatened to usage atomic weapons and had nary request to bash truthful successful Ukraine.

Putin repeated his mendacious accusations of state-sponsored “Nazism” successful Kyiv, and helium insisted the United States could extremity the war. “Those who instrumentality the argumentation successful Washington tin lick the occupation of Ukraine precise rapidly done diplomacy,” helium said. “They lone request to nonstop a awesome to Kyiv to alteration the cognition and strive to bid talks.”