Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized Thursday that the country’s mission is to build “a new world,” denouncing Western hegemony and framing the invasion of Ukraine from that perspective and not from a “territorial conflict” ”, reports AFP.
“The mission is to build a new world,” the Russian president said at the Valdai political forum, denouncing the West’s arrogance since the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
“The United States and its satellites have embarked on the path of hegemony,” the Russian head of state accused, considering that “the West still needs an enemy against whom the struggle is justified by violence and expansionism.”
According to Putin, the Russian offensive in Ukraine is “not a territorial conflict”, but an event that should determine the “principles on which the new world order will be based”.
“We have no interest in regaining territory,” claimed the Russian president, who announced in September 2022 that he had annexed four regions of Ukraine, following the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Vladimir Putin also accused the West of demonizing China and “creating an environment hostile to Muslims.”
“They are trying to give an enemy image to all those who are not willing to follow the Western elites,” warning that the days when the West could dictate its will to other countries, as during colonialism, are “gone” and “will never return.”
Putin also said that Russia plans to live in an “open world,” where international relations are free from the “logic of blocs” and based on “collective solutions.”
For years, Russia has denounced NATO expansion and the resulting threat. Moscow justifies the attack on Ukraine mainly because of the country’s desire to join the Atlantic Alliance.
Ukraine, for its part, believes that Russia has unleashed an imperialist conflict to conquer its territory and that it threatens the whole of Europe.
After more than a year and a half of fighting in Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow, Putin believes Russia is capable of bearing the costs of his military offensive. “So far we are doing well. I have reason to believe that we will be able to bear the costs in the future,” he predicted.
Source: DN
