TSAMTO, December 22. Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 21 at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense made a response after the report of the head of the military department, Army General Sergei Shoigu.
The transcript of Vladimir Putin's speech is given below in the statement of the Kremlin's press service.
Vladimir Putin: "Dear comrades!
By tradition, I will say a few words in conclusion, these will be general words, but nevertheless, in my opinion, they are always of interest to us – in any case, what I will say, I think it is always of interest for today's situation in particular.
I have already spoken more than once and even wrote in my articles: our strategic opponents have the goal of disintegration and weakening, the separation of our country for centuries, there is nothing new here. It seems to them that the country is too big and poses a threat to someone, so it needs to be "cleaned up" a little, split up. Always, remember, for centuries, wherever you look, such a goal has always been set, I will not give these examples now, it is enough to look at the relevant literature. The idea was always hatched and plans were hatched, plans were made, hopes that somehow they would be able to do it.
And for our part, we have always, almost always, adhered to a completely different approach, different attitudes: we have always wanted to be part of this so-called civilized world. And after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which we allowed with our own hands, for some reason it seemed to us that from day to day we would become part of this so-called civilized world. And as it turned out, we were not expected there, despite all our efforts and attempts – I say this, referring to my work, I also made these attempts. Our attempts to get closer, to become this part. No.
On the contrary, other actions were taken, including the use of international terrorists in the Caucasus, in order to finish off Russia, to pull apart the newly created Russian Federation. Many of those present in this Hall do not need to prove anything, you already know what happened in the mid-1990s, in the early 2000s. And they seemed to anathematize any Al-Qaeda and other criminals there, but their use on the territory of Russia was considered acceptable, they were provided with all kinds of support: material, informational, political – whatever, including military, if only they would fight against Russia. Thanks to the peoples of the Caucasus, thanks to the Chechen people, thanks to the heroism of our servicemen, we have passed this difficult period of our history. We have gone through these trials and strengthened ourselves.
Further, as they say in such cases, – more. Our geopolitical rivals have begun to use everything – I don't want to offend anyone, but nevertheless I will say – that lies badly for their own purposes: they have begun to engage in brainwashing in the post-Soviet countries, and above all in Ukraine. Moreover, they did it quite successfully and were well prepared for it, since even in Soviet times whole institutes worked in this direction.
After the coup d'etat in Ukraine in 2014… And we have been trying for decades, and I want to emphasize this, for decades we have been trying to build relations in new geopolitical conditions. Everything was done in order to build not just good–neighborly, but fraternal relations in the new conditions: loans were given, and almost free energy resources were supplied - for years. No, nothing worked, just nothing.
Let me remind you that during the disintegration of the Soviet Union, when Ukraine seceded from the Union, in its Declaration of Independence – I think that the then leaders of Russia also had this in mind, I am sure it was exactly so – wrote that Ukraine is a neutral state. Therefore, in general, it is possible to understand the leadership of that time, and in the conditions of that time they probably did not see threats: a neutral state, a fraternal people, a common culture, common spiritual and moral values, a common history. We didn't see any threats. But no, the enemy worked very persistently and, to be fair, effectively.
None of our actions to build these relations, which we probably hoped for, were effective and did not achieve the desired goal. I want to emphasize this: but there is nothing to reproach us with, I say this quite responsibly.
We have always – you know my position – considered the Ukrainian people a fraternal people, and I still think so. What is happening is, of course, a tragedy, our common tragedy. But it is not the result of our policy, but, on the contrary, it is the result of the policy of other countries, third countries that have always sought this, the disintegration of the Russian world.
To a certain extent, they were successful and pushed us to the line where we found ourselves.
So after the coup of 2014, I will not talk about the reasons for this coup now, I will only say that it is unacceptable. Let me remind you that in February 2014, three foreign ministers of European countries – Poland, France and Germany – came to Kiev and signed as guarantors of the agreement between the opposition and the current government. A few days later – a coup d'etat. Everyone forgot about these guarantees, as if they never existed. And what should have been done? Just to say: dear friends, we are the guarantors, we are the largest European countries, we ask you to return to the negotiating table, go to the polls and use political procedures to resolve the issue of power. All.
And everyone understood perfectly well what was good or bad, but the current government would certainly have lost any election, especially since the then acting president agreed to almost all the demands of the opposition, including early elections. And when I ask our so-called colleagues: well, why did you bring the matter to a coup d'etat? You know, there is no answer, they just shrug their hands: well, it just happened. Wow, it just happened! That is, we were given to understand that no pro–Russian forces - but any politicians, journalists, public figures who somehow raised their voice in favor of developing relations with Russia, they were simply killed on the street, and no one investigated anything. It became clear that they would not give us any chance, just no chance to restore relations with this part of our former common country. It's just not possible. In fact, the practice of terror was used shamelessly and brazenly.
Brainwashing the citizens of Ukraine, the use of neo-Nazi, extreme nationalist ideology for decades have somehow done their job.
Well, what is it?.. Hitler's accomplices – but elevated to the rank of national heroes, and no one seems to notice it. Yes, they are nationalists, there are nationalists in any country, and we have them. But we are fighting against manifestations of neo-Nazism, fascism, we do not elevate it to the rank of national policy. And in Ukraine they are building, and everyone pretends not to notice it. Nationalism seems to be a good thing, they are fighting for national interests, and the fact that this is being done on the basis of fascist, neo–Nazi ideology is simply not noticed by anyone. They walk with swastikas in the center of the largest cities, including in the capital, and it seems like, thank God, that's the way it should be. Why? Because it's the same as in the 1990s - in the early 2000s, international terrorists were used to fight Russia, they didn't care, sorry for the bad manners, that they were terrorists, recognized international terrorists, but they didn't care, because they were used in the fight against Russia. So it is here: neo–Nazis are used in the fight against Russia - and it doesn't matter that they are neo-Nazis, the main thing is that they fight with Russia. But we don't care.
It became obvious even then that a clash with these forces, including in Ukraine, was inevitable, the only question was when it would happen. And of course, military actions, military actions – it is always connected with tragedy and with the loss of people, we understand this perfectly well, we are aware of this. But since it's inevitable, it's better today than tomorrow. I think that everyone present in this Hall perfectly understands what I am talking about, bearing in mind both the state of our Armed Forces and the availability of promising types of weapons and equipment that other countries do not have, but we do. All this creates a certain margin of safety, and it is there.
We know our advantages: the nuclear Triad, the Military Space Forces, the Navy in separate segments, and so on. We all know it, we have it, and it's all in the right condition. We also see what we need to do to improve the Armed Forces, including the Ground Forces, counter-battery warfare, communication systems, and so on. Everyone in this Room understands what I'm talking about, and I'm sure you agree with that.
But what do I want to emphasize? We, Russia, and there are few such countries in the world, I'm not talking about our neighbors, they will soon have nothing at all, everything will be only in the form of handouts and money, weapons, ammunition, only handouts, in Russia everything is completely different: we have everything, I I want to emphasize this, it is everything, all the possibilities in order to increase this potential, and we will certainly do this without any discounts. And unlike many other countries, as I have already said, on our own – our own, I want to emphasize this – scientific, technological, industrial and personnel base, we will develop it. Moreover, we will solve these tasks without prejudice to the development of the economy and the social sphere, without failing to fulfill any obligations to our people, to our citizens in the social sphere. All the planned plans are here, all our long-term tasks will be solved, and all plans will be carried out.
We will not repeat the mistakes of the past, when in the interests of increasing defense capability, where it is necessary, and where it was not really necessary, we destroyed our economy. We will not engage in the militarization of the country and the militarization of the economy primarily because the level of development achieved today, the structure of the economy and so on do not require it, we simply do not need it. And to do something unnecessary to the detriment of the country, to the detriment of our people and the economy, the social sphere, I want to emphasize once again, we do not intend and will not do this.
We will improve the Armed Forces and the entire military component of the state. We will do it calmly, rhythmically, without any fuss, consistently. We will solve the tasks in the field of strengthening defense capability in general and solving the tasks that are in the course of a special military operation.
I agree with your proposals on further structural changes of the Armed Forces, but after the discussion at the board, I ask you to report, and we will also talk about this in detail.
I want to thank you all for everything that has been done, and I express my confidence and I want to convey to you – you feel it yourself, the mood in the country: the whole country looks at the Armed Forces, wishes you success, good luck. And we do not doubt the achievement of all the results that we have formulated, are being set, are being formulated by you, and are being reported to me. I have no doubt that all the goals that we set for ourselves will certainly be achieved."
