Russian President Vladimir Putin returned to the international stage during the G20 summit on Tuesday and called for an end to the “tragedies” in Ukraine, a war Russia started in 2022, and in the Gaza Strip, an area that was seized weeks ago by Israel was bombed.
“And the bloody coup in Ukraine in 2014 that led to the Kiev regime’s war against its own people in the Donbas [leste ucraniano]does that not affect you?”, the Russian head of state said during his speech at the virtual summit of the G20 (the 19 largest world economies plus the European Union), organized by India.
Putin’s intervention was broadcast on Russian state television.
Putin, who has not attended G20 meetings for three years and did not even participate via video at the September summit, also hosted by India, responded to his colleagues who said they were “shocked” by the consequences of the Russian ‘aggression’. against Ukraine. “Without any doubt, we must think about how to stop this tragedy,” the government official admitted, referring to the war in Ukraine.
“Of course, military actions are always a tragedy for people and families, and for the country as a whole,” he said, adding that Russia “never” refused to enter into peace talks with Kiev.
Putin recalled that it was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who by decree banned talks with Russia to end the fighting, which has already cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
The Kremlin leader expressed his willingness to negotiate with Zelensky as long as he accepts the annexation of four more Ukrainian regions, an insurmountable red line for Kiev.
However, by alluding to the need to end the bloodshed in Ukraine, Putin aimed to highlight what he sees as the double standards of the United States and its allies.
“And the extermination of the civilian population in Palestine, in the Gaza Strip, isn’t that shocking? And the fact that doctors have to operate on children (…), use scalpels on children’s bodies without anesthesia, right? shocking?” Putin asked during the same intervention.
“And the fact that the UN Secretary General says Gaza has become a huge cemetery for children doesn’t move you?” he continued.
Putin has taken a particularly active stance since the start of the conflict between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel, a country that has remained out of the conflict on Ukrainian territory and to which it has supplied virtually no weapons, despite Zelenskiy’s insistence. of Jewish descent..
Although he did not meet any Palestinian representatives, Putin approved the visit to Moscow of a Hamas delegation and is awaiting the arrival of Palestinian National Authority President Mahmud Abbas.
Still in his speech to the G20, Putin reminded the West once again that the world is undergoing “radical transformations” and that a large share of investments is destined for Africa, Asia and Latin America, regions where most of the world’s population , and appealed to “collective and consensual decisions”.
He accused “some countries” of destabilizing the global economy and causing an inflation explosion and dramatic increases in food and energy prices through irresponsible economic policies and unfair competition.
To reverse the current trend, he advocated strengthening the role of developing countries in international financial institutions and reforming the World Trade Organization.
Putin will once again share the international stage with other Western leaders when he is expected to announce his decision to run for re-election in the March 2024 presidential election in December.
In the absence of successes on the battlefield, the election campaign will focus on the continued antagonism with the United States and NATO, which has produced good results in the past.
Using the excuse of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war, Putin did not participate in the last three G20 summits, in Italy, Indonesia and, last September, in India.
This year, the Russian leader has hardly traveled abroad, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan and China last month.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their alleged involvement in crimes related to the forcible deportation of children from Ukraine and issued arrest warrants for them.
Source: DN
