26th March 2023 – (Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Western countries of being the initiators and instigators of the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking to host Pavel Zarubin, Putin stated that the conflict started with an armed coup and that Russia was forced to protect the population of Crimea. Putin went on to say that the Western countries are pretending that they had nothing to do with the conflict, even though they were the ones who facilitated the coup.
According to Putin, the West is crossing all red and even deep-red lines by supplying weapons to the Kyiv regime. Putin accused Western countries of supplying weapons to Kyiv from the very start in 2014, when they facilitated the coup. Putin also criticised the West for supplying depleted uranium munitions to Kyiv, stating that this meant crossing red and even deep-red lines.
Putin reiterated that he had repeatedly spoken about the role of Western countries in the conflict in Ukraine. He stressed that the former leadership of Ukraine could also be blamed for certain mistakes, but ultimately it was their internal affair. However, Putin emphasised that staging an armed coup was a completely different story and that the West cannot deny their role in initiating the conflict.
While Western countries have denied any involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, Putin believes that their actions speak louder than their words. He stated that the West is handing over millions of munitions, hardware and other supplies to the Kyiv regime, despite knowing the consequences of their actions. Putin accused the West of trying to destabilise the region for their own interests, rather than promoting peace and stability.
Putin also addressed the issue of sanctions against Russia, stating that they were imposed unjustly and without any evidence of Russian involvement in the conflict. He argued that the sanctions were politically motivated and only served to harm the Russian economy and the Russian people.