Excerpt from issue 135 of April 2022 of Hommes d'Afrique Magazine. Pages 20-31

Russian citizens, friends,

I consider it necessary today to talk again about the tragic events in Donbass and the essential aspects of ensuring Russia's security. I will start with what I said in my address on February 21, 2022. I spoke about our greatest concerns and worries, and the fundamental threats that irresponsible Western politicians have created for Russia in a consistent, crude and without respects from year to year. I refer to the eastward expansion of NATO, which brings its military infrastructure closer and closer to the Russian border.

It is a fact that over the past 30 years we have patiently tried to reach an agreement with the main NATO countries on the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we have invariably been met with either deceit and cynical lies, or attempts at pressure and blackmail, as the North Atlantic alliance continued to expand despite our protests and concerns. His military machine is in motion and, as I said, is approaching our very border.

Why does this happen? Where does this insolent way of speaking from the top of their exceptionalism, their infallibility and their permissiveness come from? How to explain this contemptuous and disdainful attitude towards our absolutely legitimate interests and claims? The answer is simple. Everything is clear and obvious. In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union weakened and then fell apart. This experience should serve as good lessons for us, for it has shown us that the paralysis of power and will is the first step towards complete degradation and oblivion. We only lost faith for a moment, but it was enough to upset the balance of power in the world.

As a result, the old treaties and agreements are no longer in effect. Pleas and requests do not help. Anything that does not suit the dominant state, the powers that be, is denounced as archaic, obsolete and unnecessary. At the same time, everything he considers useful is presented as the ultimate truth and imposed on others at all costs, abusively and by all available means. Those who refuse to comply are subjected to heavy-handed tactics.

Why does this happen? Where does this insolent way of speaking from the top of their exceptionalism, their infallibility and their permissiveness come from? How to explain this contemptuous and disdainful attitude towards our absolutely legitimate interests and claims?

What I am saying now is not just about Russia, and Russia is not the only country that cares. It has to do with the whole system of international relations, and sometimes even with the allies of the United States. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a re-division of the world, and the norms of international law which developed at that time - and most important of these, the fundamental norms which were adopted after the World War II and largely formalized its outcome – stood in the way of those who declared themselves victors of the Cold War. Certainly, practice, international relations and the rules that govern them had to take into account the changes that had taken place in the world and in the balance of forces. However, this should have been done professionally, smoothly, patiently and with due consideration and respect for the interests of all States and his own responsibility. Instead, we saw a state of euphoria created by the feeling of absolute superiority, a kind of modern absolutism, associated with low cultural standards and the arrogance of those who formulated and imposed decisions that did not suit than to themselves. The situation took another turn.

There are many examples of this. A bloody military operation was first carried out against Belgrade, without the approval of the UN Security Council, but with fighter jets and missiles used in the heart of Europe. The bombardment of peaceful towns and vital infrastructure lasted for several weeks. I have to recall these facts, because some Western colleagues prefer to forget them, and when we talk about the event, they prefer to avoid talking about international law, focusing instead on the circumstances which they interpret as they consider necessary.

Then came Iraq, Libya and Syria. The illegal use of military power against Libya and the distortion of all UN Security Council decisions on Libya have bankrupted the state, created a huge siege of international terrorism and pushed the country towards a humanitarian catastrophe. , in the whirlwind of a civil war, which has been going on there for years. The tragedy, which has been created for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people not only in Libya but across the region, has resulted in a large-scale exodus from the Middle East and North Africa to the Europe. A similar fate was also prepared for Syria. The combat operations carried out by the Western coalition in this country without the approval of the Syrian government or the sanction of the UN Security Council can only be defined as aggression and intervention.

But the example that stands out from the events above is, of course, the invasion of Iraq without any legal basis. They used the pretext of supposedly reliable information available in the United States about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. To prove this claim, the US Secretary of State held up a vial of white powder, publicly, for the world to see, assuring the international community that it was a chemical warfare agent created in Iraq. It later turned out that it was all a fake and a sham, and that Iraq had no chemical weapons. Incredible and shocking, but true. We have witnessed lies uttered at the highest level of the state and spoken from the high rostrum of the UN. As a result, we are witnessing enormous loss of life, damage, destruction and a colossal upsurge in terrorism. All in all, it seems that almost everywhere, in many parts of the world, where the United States has brought law and order, it has created bloody, unhealed wounds and the curse of international terrorism and the extremism. I have mentioned only the most egregious, but far from the only, examples of disregard for international law.

This chart includes pledges not to expand NATO eastward, even by an inch. To reiterate: they tricked us, or, to put it simply, they ripped us off. Of course, we often hear that politics is dirty business. It could be, but it shouldn't be as dirty as it is now, not this bad. This type of fraudulent behavior is contrary not only to the principles of international relations, but also and above all to generally accepted standards of morality and ethics. Where is justice and truth here? Just lies and hypocrisy everywhere. Incidentally, American politicians, political scientists and journalists write and say that a real "empire of lies" has been created inside the United States in recent years. It's hard to disagree with that - it really is. But we must not be modest: the United States remains a great country and a systemic power. All his satellites not only humbly and docilely say yes to him, and at the slightest pretext repeat like parrots what he says, but also imitate his behavior and enthusiastically accept the rules he proposes to them. Therefore, it can be said with reason and confidence that the entire so-called Western bloc formed by the United States in its image and likeness is, in its entirety, the same "empire of lies".

As for our country, after the disintegration of the USSR, given all the unprecedented openness of the new modern Russia, its willingness to work honestly with the United States and other Western partners, and of its practically unilateral disarmament, they immediately tried to put the final pressure on us, to finish us off and destroy us completely. This was so in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the so-called collective West actively supported separatism and mercenary gangs in southern Russia. What victims, what losses we had to suffer and what hardships we had to go through at that time before breaking the back of international terrorism in the Caucasus! We remember it and will never forget it.

Strictly speaking, the attempts to use us for their own gain never stopped until quite recently: they sought to destroy our traditional values ​​and impose their false values ​​upon us which would erode us, our people ; inside, ; attitudes that they have aggressively imposed on their countries, attitudes that lead directly to degradation and degeneration, because they are contrary to human nature. It will not happen. No one has ever succeeded in doing this, and neither will they succeed now. Despite all this, in December 2021, we made another attempt to reach an agreement with the United States and its allies on the principles of European security and the non-enlargement of NATO. Our efforts were in vain. The United States has not changed its position. They do not think it is necessary to agree with Russia on a crucial issue for us. The United States pursues its own objectives, while neglecting our interests. Of course, this situation raises a question: and then what should we expect? If history is any guide, we know that in 1940 and early 1941 the Soviet Union went to great lengths to prevent war or at least delay its outbreak. To this end, the USSR sought not to provoke the potential aggressor to the bitter end by either refraining from or postponing the most urgent and obvious preparations it needed to make to defend itself from imminent attack. . When he finally acted, it was too late.

As a result, the country was not prepared to counter the invasion of Nazi Germany, which attacked our homeland on June 22, 1941, without declaring war. The country stopped the enemy and continued to defeat it, but it came at great cost. The attempt to appease the aggressor before the Great Patriotic War turned out to be a mistake that cost our people dearly. In the first months after the outbreak of hostilities, we lost vast territories of strategic importance, as well as millions of lives. We won't make this mistake the second time around. We don't have the right to do that. Those who aspire to world domination have publicly singled out Russia as their enemy. They did so with impunity. Make no mistake, they had no reason to do so. It is true that they have considerable financial, scientific, technological and military capabilities. We are aware of this and have an objective view of the economic threats we hear, as well as our ability to counter this brazen and endless blackmail. Let me repeat that we have no illusions in this respect and that we are extremely realistic in our assessments.

As far as military affairs are concerned, even after the dissolution of the USSR and the loss of a considerable part of its capabilities, today's Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states. Additionally, he has a definite advantage in several edge weapons. In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and adverse consequences if they directly attack our country. At the same time, technology, including in the defense sector, is changing rapidly. One day there is a leader, and tomorrow another, but a military presence in the territories bordering Russia, if we allow it to continue, will remain for decades or perhaps forever, creating an ever-growing threat. and totally unacceptable to Russia. Even now, with NATO's eastward expansion, Russia's situation is getting worse and more dangerous with each passing year. Moreover, in recent days, NATO leaders have been blunt in their statements that they must accelerate and intensify their efforts to bring the alliance's infrastructure closer to Russia's borders. In other words, they hardened their stance. We cannot sit idly by and passively observe these developments. It would be an absolutely irresponsible thing for us to do.

Any further expansion of North Atlantic Alliance infrastructure or ongoing efforts to gain a military foothold in Ukrainian territory are unacceptable to us. Of course, the question is not about NATO itself. It simply serves as a tool of American foreign policy. The problem is that in the territories adjacent to Russia, which I must stress are our historical land, a hostile “anti-Russia” is taking shape. Entirely controlled from the outside, it does everything to attract NATO armed forces and equip itself with state-of-the-art weaponry. For the United States and its allies, this is a policy of containment of Russia, with obvious geopolitical dividends. For our country, it is a question of life and death, a question of our historic future as a nation. This is not an exaggeration; it is a fact. This is not only a very real threat to our interests, but also to the very existence of our state and to its sovereignty. This is the red line that we have talked about many times. They crossed it.

This brings me to the situation in the Donbass. We can see that the forces that staged the coup in Ukraine in 2014 have seized power, held onto it through ornamental electoral procedures, and abandoned the path of a peaceful resolution to the conflict. For eight years, for eight endless years, we have done everything to resolve the situation by peaceful political means. All was in vain. As I said in my previous address, you cannot look on without compassion at what is happening there. It was becoming impossible to tolerate it. This atrocity, this genocide of the millions of people who live there and who placed their hopes on Russia, on all of us, had to be stopped. It was their aspirations, the feelings and the pain of these people that were the main driving force behind our decision to recognize the independence of the people's republics of Donbass.

I would also like to point out the following. Focused on their own goals, the main NATO countries support far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine, those who will never forgive the people of Crimea and Sevastopol for freely choosing to reunite with Russia. They will undoubtedly try to wage war in the Crimea as they did in the Donbass, to kill innocent people as the members of the punitive units of the Ukrainian nationalists and Hitler's accomplices did during the Great Patriotic War. They also openly claimed several other Russian regions. If we look at the sequence of events and the reports that are coming in, the confrontation between Russia and these forces cannot be avoided. It's just a matter of time. They prepare and wait for the right moment. Moreover, they have gone so far as to aspire to acquire nuclear weapons. We won't let that happen.

I have already said that Russia accepted the new geopolitical reality after the dissolution of the USSR. We have treated all new post-Soviet states with respect and will continue to do so. We respect and will respect their sovereignty, as evidenced by the assistance we provided to Kazakhstan when it faced tragic events and a challenge to its statehood and integrity. However, Russia cannot feel safe, develop and exist in the face of a permanent threat from the territory of today's Ukraine. Let me remind you that in 2000-2005 we used our army to repel terrorists in the Caucasus and defended the integrity of our state. We preserved Russia. In 2014, we supported the people of Crimea and Sevastopol. In 2015, we used our armed forces to create a reliable shield that prevented Syrian terrorists from entering Russia. It was about defending ourselves. We had no other choice. The same is happening today. They left us with no other option to defend Russia and our people than the one we are forced to use today. In these circumstances, we must take bold and immediate action. The people's republics of Donbass have asked for help from Russia.

In this context, in accordance with Article 51 (Chapter VII) of the Charter of the United Nations, with the authorization of the Council of the Russian Federation and in execution of the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, ratified by the Federal Assembly on February 22, I made the decision to conduct a special military operation. The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have faced humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the kyiv regime. To this end, we will strive to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to justice those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation. It is not our plan to occupy Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force. At the same time, we have heard a growing number of declarations from the West that it is no longer necessary to comply with the documents setting out the results of the Second World War, as signed by the regime. totalitarian Soviet. How can we respond to this?

The results of World War II and the sacrifices our people had to make to defeat Nazism are sacred. This does not contradict the high values ​​of human rights and freedoms in reality that emerged in the post-war decades. This does not mean that nations cannot enjoy the right to self-determination, which is enshrined in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter. Let me remind you that the inhabitants of the territories that are part of today's Ukraine were not asked how they wanted to build their lives during the creation of the USSR or after the Second World War . Freedom guides our policy, the freedom to independently choose our future and that of our children. We believe that all peoples living in today's Ukraine, all who wish to do so, should be able to enjoy this right to free choice. In this context, I would like to address the citizens of Ukraine. In 2014, Russia was forced to protect the people of Crimea and Sevastopol from what you yourself call “nats”. The people of Crimea and Sevastopol chose to be with their historic homeland, Russia, and we supported their choice. As I said, we could not do otherwise. Current events have nothing to do with a desire to harm the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. They are linked to the defense of Russia against those who have taken Ukraine hostage and are trying to use it against our country and our people.

I repeat: we act to defend ourselves from the threats created for us and from a peril worse than what is happening now. I ask you, however difficult it may be, to understand this and to work with us to turn this tragic page as quickly as possible and move forward together, without anyone interfering in our affairs and our relationships, but by developing independently, in order to create favorable conditions to overcome all these problems and strengthen ourselves from within as a whole, despite the existence of state borders. I believe in this, in our common future.

I would also like to address the military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Comrade officers, Your fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers did not fight the Nazi occupiers and defend our common homeland to allow today's neo-Nazis to take power in Ukraine. You have sworn allegiance to the Ukrainian people and not to the junta, the opponent of the people who plunders Ukraine and humiliates the Ukrainian people. I urge you to refuse to carry out their criminal orders. I urge you to lay down your arms immediately and return home. I will explain what this means: Servicemen of the Ukrainian army who do so will be able to freely leave the area of ​​hostilities and return to their families. I would like to stress again that all responsibility for possible bloodshed will rest fully and entirely with the ruling Ukrainian regime. I would now like to say something very important for those who might be tempted to intervene from the outside in these developments. No matter who tries to block our way or, a fortiori, to create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will react immediately and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in all your history . No matter how events unfold, we are ready. All the necessary decisions in this regard have been taken. I hope my words will be heard.

No matter who tries to block our path or, a fortiori, to create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will react immediately and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in all your history.

Citizens of Russia, The culture and values, experience and traditions of our ancestors have invariably provided a powerful foundation for the well-being and very existence of entire states and nations, their success and their viability. Of course, this directly depends on the ability to adapt quickly to constant changes, to maintain social cohesion and to be ready to consolidate and mobilize all available forces to move forward. We always need to be strong, but this strength can take different forms. The "empire of lies", of which I spoke at the beginning of my speech, proceeds in its policy mainly from a brutal and direct force. This is when our saying about being “all brawn and brainless” applies. We all know that having justice and truth on our side is what makes us truly strong. If so, it would be hard to disagree that it is our strength and our will to fight that is the foundation of independence and sovereignty and provides the foundations needed to build a reliable future for your home, your family and your motherland.

Dear compatriots, I am sure that the dedicated soldiers and officers of the Russian Armed Forces will perform their duty with professionalism and courage. I have no doubt that government institutions at all levels and specialists will work effectively to ensure the stability of our economy, our financial system and social welfare, and the same goes for business leaders and the entire business community. I hope that all parliamentary parties and civil society will adopt a consolidated and patriotic position. Ultimately, Russia's future is in the hands of its multi-ethnic people, as it has always been in our history. This means that the decisions I have made will be carried out, we will achieve the goals we have set ourselves and we will reliably guarantee the security of our homeland. I believe in your support and in the invincible strength rooted in the love of our Fatherland.