Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the nation in Moscow on Thursday, February 29, more than two years after launching his assault on Ukraine, and two weeks before the presidential election, which is expected see being re-elected, unsurprisingly, to the Kremlin until 2030.
Comforted by Russian successes in Ukraine, the Russian president welcomed the advance in Ukraine of his troops, who have achieved several successes in recent weeks against the forces of kyiv, on the defensive and short of ammunition. “The military capabilities of the [Russian] armed forces have been multiplied. Our units (…) are confidently advancing in a number of operational areas and liberating more and more territories,” he said.
In a calm tone, under very regular applause from the public, he returned to the controversial remarks of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who raised this week the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine.
The West “talked about the possibility of sending Western military contingents to Ukraine, (…) but the consequences of these interventions would really be more tragic”, he declared, from the Gostiny Dvor, a congress center located near Red Square in Moscow. “They need to understand that we too have weapons capable of hitting targets on their territory. Everything they are inventing at the moment, in addition to frightening the whole world, is a real threat of conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and therefore the destruction of civilization,” the Russian president continued.
Emmanuel Macron claims that all his words are “weighed” and “measured”
“So they don’t understand that? “, he asked himself aloud, during a speech lasting a little over two hours in front of the country’s political, military, economic and religious elite.
From Saint-Denis, during the inauguration of the Olympic village for the Paris Games on Thursday, Emmanuel Macron affirmed that “each of the words I say on this matter is weighed, thought out and measured, these are sufficiently serious subjects”. The French president, however, refused to make any “geopolitical comments” in this context, saying he believed that it was “not the place” and that “sport must allow unity and appeasement”.
The Russian president finds himself in a better position than a year ago, when his army was subject to humiliating retreats in the south and northeast of Ukraine, after an abortive attempt to seize Kiev in spring 2022. Since then, the Ukrainian army has failed in its counter-offensive launched in the summer of 2023 and finds itself on the defensive, lacking ammunition due to lack of agreement in Washington and due to the slowness of European deliveries, facing more numerous and better armed Russian soldiers.
“Multiplied” military capabilities
In mid-February, the latter succeeded in seizing the fortress town of Avdiïvka, on the eastern front, and continued their push in this sector. “The military capabilities of the [Russian] armed forces have been multiplied. They are advancing with confidence in several directions” of the front, Vladimir Putin rejoiced on Thursday, while saying he believed that “the absolute majority of the Russian people” supported his military campaign in Ukraine.
The soldiers engaged in Ukraine “will not retreat, will not fail, will not betray,” Mr. Putin further affirmed in the conclusion of his speech, marked by a solemn listening to the Russian anthem.
During his speech, the head of the Kremlin also boasted of the “flexibility and resistance” of the Russian economy which, despite a barrage of Western sanctions, is holding its own and has turned towards Asia and the war effort.
The Russian president also attacked the current American authorities, accusing them of “wanting to show that they run the world as before” and of engaging in “demagoguery” before the American presidential election next November. According to him, Russia is nevertheless “ready for dialogue” with the United States on issues of “strategic stability”.
Not a word spoken about Alexeï Navalny
Russian media note that the speech was broadcast not only on television but also free of charge in cinemas in twenty cities in Russia, a country whose population is subject, according to Kremlin critics, to increasing political regimentation.
Mr. Putin’s speech comes on the eve of the funeral in Moscow of his main opponent, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison on February 16, at the age of 47, in unclear conditions. Vladimir Putin, who has never mentioned the name of Alexeï Navalny in public, has still not commented, including on Thursday, on this death which shocked Western powers.
