Russia's President Vladimir Putin has delivered his highly anticipated address, while U.S. President Joe Biden prepares to give his own speech this evening from Warsaw. Biden intends to “make it clear that the U.S. will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
While Putin's speech was nearly two hours of blaming everyone except himself for the war in Ukraine, the central message and the most so-called "valuable announcement" was about Moscow suspending its participation in the New START treaty, the last remaining arms control treaty between the world's two main nuclear powers, Russia and the U.S.
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"I have to announce that Russia is suspending its participation in the New START treaty," Putin said. "No one should be under the illusion that global strategic parity can be violated."
Kyiv Post has whittled down a whole host of other dubious claims into the following top five list of Putin’s pottiest assertions:
Pedophilia now "the norm" in the West
Putin, who frequently decries Western gender and sexual freedoms as an existential danger, said pedophilia has become the norm in the West.
"Look at what they do to their own people: the destruction of families, of cultural and national identities and the perversion that is child abuse all the way up to pedophilia are advertised as the norm... and priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages," Putin said.
“Traitors” in Russia must be brought to justice
Putin said that Russians who had chosen "the path of betrayal" must be brought to justice. By "traitors," he probably meant Russians who didn't support the Russian war and those who fled the country for some reason.
Ukraine Fires First Long-Range US Missiles into Russia, Kremlin Vows Response
"Those who have embarked on the path of betrayal of Russia must be held accountable under the law," Putin said, adding that authorities would not unleash a "witch hunt" against dissenters.
West “completely” responsible for escalation of Ukraine conflict
Putin blamed the West for the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, after Kyiv's allies promised to send new weapons to Ukraine.
"The responsibility for fueling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of victims... lies completely with Western elites," Putin said.
Western elites are not hiding their goal to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia
Putin has also accused the West of wanting "to be done with" Russia.
"Western elites are not hiding their goal – to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It means to be done with us once and for all," Putin said.
Putin vows to press offensive in Ukraine
Putin vowed to "systematically" press on with Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
"Step by step, we will carefully and systematically solve the aims that face us," Putin said ahead of the first anniversary of the military intervention.
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