Repeated claims by European officials that Russia poses a threat of war to their countries amount to “political schizophrenia,” President Vladimir Putin has said.
He made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin after participating in the Union of Theatre Workers congress at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.
Putin strongly denied the repeated allegations that Moscow has been gearing up for war with Europe in any fashion, dismissing them as a part of the ongoing “anti-Russian campaign” on the continent.
“They now go so far as to constantly speak of a ‘Russian threat’ and even discuss preparations for a war with Russia – which, in my view, amounts to a kind of political schizophrenia. But I hope that it will pass,” Putin stated.
The Ukraine conflict has clearly demonstrated that Russia cannot be defeated on the battlefield, the president argued, adding that the idea of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on the country was “simply not realistic.” Putin expressed hope that those still entertaining such a scenario would “come to recognize the realities of modern life.”
“They will hopefully realize that it is better to live in harmony with Russia – a path that truly serves the interests of their own peoples. If you look at the political processes currently underway in Europe, it becomes evident that the European peoples have no desire to go to war with Russia,” the president stated.
In fact, Russia does not want to fight Ukraine either, Putin said, pointing at the shared past and the longstanding “brotherly” ties between Russians and Ukrainians. Still, Kiev itself chose war in 2014, when it opted to fight the people of then-Ukrainian Donbass, who had rejected the Maidan coup, the president said, adding that Ukraine has also rejected Moscow’s repeated attempts to mediate that conflict.
“If the current Ukrainian leadership wishes to fight, then let them fight. But why do they expect everyone else to foot the bill and supply them with weapons? I suppose they have their arguments – likely rooted in past promises of help. But it seems that the ‘help’ was intended to last until the very last Ukrainian,” Putin said.
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