Russia’s very survival as a state was at risk in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, international media reported.
Putin elaborated on his claim that the West was determined to tear Russia apart. He made the comments in a lengthy speech to workers at an aviation industry in Buryatia, about 4,400 kilometres (2,750 miles) east of Moscow.
“So for us this is not a geopolitical task, but a task of the survival of Russian statehood, creating conditions for the future development of the country and our children,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Putin has accused the West of using Ukraine as and tool to wage war against Russia and inflict on it a “strategic defeat”.
The United States and its allies say they are helping Ukraine to defend itself from an imperial-style invasion that has destroyed Ukrainian cities, killed thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee their homes, the international news agency reported.
Putin said in a response to a question that he had been worried about the economy when the West imposed unprecedented waves of sanctions last year but it had proved stronger than expected.
“We have increased our economic sovereignty many times over. After all, what did our enemy count on? That we would collapse in 2-3 weeks or in a month,” he said, as per Reuters.
He said the enemy had been expecting that factories would grind to a halt, the financial system would collapse, unemployment would rise, protesters would take to the streets, and Russia would “sway from within and collapse”.
“This did not happen,” Vladimir Putin said. “It turned out, for many of us, and even more so for Western countries, that the fundamental foundations of Russia’s stability are much stronger than anyone thought.
