Friday 5 December 2014
Photo: Vladimir Putin has used his annual state of the nation address to accuse the West of provoking a crisis in Ukraine. (Reuters: Sergei Karpukhin )
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Russian president Vladimir Putin has accused the West of seeking to destroy his country to punish it for its growing strength.
In his annual state of the union address to parliament, Mr Putin expressed no regrets for annexing the Crimea peninsula and accused Western governments of "pure cynicism" over the Ukraine crisis.
The Kremlin leader praised the Russian people for their strength and said sanctions against Russia must drive the country to develop its own economy.
Russia's "enemies of yesterday" wished on it the same fate as Yugoslavia in the 1990s, he said in the speech.
"There is no doubt they would have loved to see the Yugoslavia scenario of collapse and dismemberment for us - with all the tragic consequences it would have for the peoples of Russia.
"This has not happened. We did not allow it."
So determined was the West to destroy Russia, he said, that sanctions would have been imposed even without the crisis in Ukraine.
"I am certain that if all this did not take place ... they would come up with another reason to contain Russia's growing capabilities.
"Whenever anyone thinks Russia has become strong, they resort to this instrument."
Even when he pledged to keep Russia open to the world, he adopted an aggressive posture: "We will never pursue the path of self-isolation, xenophobia, suspicion and search for enemies. All this is a manifestation of weakness, while we are strong and self-confident."
Russian currency falls during speech
Sanctions and the falling price of energy exports have seen the rouble drop sharply, culminating in an acknowledgment this week by the government that the country is headed for recession.
Mr Putin promised an amnesty for capital repatriated to the country, saying that Russians who chose to bring money back would face no questions over how they earned it. Money from a national wealth fund would be used to support domestic banks.
His popularity ratings remain high and he has not faced any big protests over the economic decline, but questions are being asked about whether he has a plan to pull the $1.4 trillion economy out of crisis.
The Russian currency has already lost a third of its value this year, the fall in oil prices has blown a hole in state finances, and Russian companies and banks are scrambling to find dollars to pay foreign debts.
"The greatest danger for the president is the economy, under the double pressure of sanctions and falling oil prices," commentator Kirill Rogov wrote in the business daily Vedomosti.
US president Barack Obama has said the tough economic situation could eventually help change Mr Putin's course in other areas.
Mr Putin has instead diverted attention from the economy by whipping up patriotism, including by annexing the Crimea peninsula, and blaming the United States and the European Union for many of Russia's problems as well as the crisis in Ukraine.
Reuters
