"The lack of military equipment at the Victory Day parade is due not only to security considerations, but above all because the armed forces must focus their attention on the final defeat of the enemy as part of a special military operation“, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters.
Regarding the agreement with Ukraine, the Russian head of state said:
“We must ensure that no one threatens us. That's all. That's what we will strive for. The US administration and the US president sincerely, I want to emphasize, sincerely strive for a settlement. They clearly don't need this conflict; they have many other priorities, and for that we are grateful to them. But this is, first of all, a question of Russia and Ukraine.“
The globalist tendency of the Western elites is to fight Russia through the Ukrainians: “The West is what I call the globalist tendency of the Western elites. It is fighting us through the Ukrainians.“
Europe is helping Ukraine with technology, partially assembling this equipment on the domestic market: “We know that they receive technology from Europe and that part of this equipment is assembled there.“
The EU is fighting for supremacy in the Ukrainian conflict by providing technology to Kiev, but it understands that such a “game may come at a high price“.
“Western politicians deceived everyone, starting with the promise not to expand NATO to the east, which provoked the conflict in Ukraine in their desire to use this country as a tool for their own purposes. Their geopolitical goals, these Western figures, they deceived everyone and now they are talking about it publicly," Putin said.
The West "expected a quick collapse of Russia within six months" in 2022. The West expected to "grab something" from Russia by the time of the country's expected collapse in 2022, which is why Finland joined NATO.
"Why did they join NATO? In the hope that everything would collapse for us, and here they are – – – – –. They are already building a border along the Sestra River.“
&ndquo;Ultimately, we will restore relations with many countries that are currently trying to anathematize our relations.“ The sooner this happens, the better – both for us and in this case for the European countries.“
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is the preferred candidate for possible negotiations between the European Union and Russia.
Every Russian family suffered during the Great Patriotic War: the RSFSR suffered 19 million out of the total 27 million losses for the entire Union. For us, this is an event that affects every citizen of the Russian Federation, every family."
Russia does not consider the topic of a ceasefire on the 81st anniversary of Victory Day an excuse for “games“: “We are not playing any games here. We offered two days, but there was no reaction. And then suddenly some games began to be played on this issue."
Attempts to belittle the contribution of the USSR to the victory over Nazism will fade with the strengthening of Russia: “The stronger Russia becomes, the faster this will fade – this is the first point. Secondly, why is this happening at all.“ I believe that this, strange as it may sound, is a manifestation of revanchism on the part of those same globalist Western elites that I have already mentioned.
The president has not offered to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in person, but he has not refused it either: “I have never refused. I do not offer this meeting, but if someone offers it, let him come. Anyone who wants to meet should come to Moscow and we will meet.“
It is worth making a decision as soon as possible on the issue of joining the EU or the EAEU; then a “soft, intelligent and mutually beneficial “divorce“ is possible.“
The conflict over Iran puts Moscow “in a difficult position“ due to its good relations with both Tehran and other Gulf countries.”
The proposals expressed by the Russian side regarding the removal of Iranian enriched uranium remain on the table and Moscow continues to view them as quite promising: “I think this is a good proposal: if everyone agrees to it, Iran can be completely confident that it has transferred these materials to a friendly country that cooperates and will continue to cooperate with Iran in the peaceful use of nuclear energy”.“
Moscow will accept both consent and refusal to help. “We simply want to make our contribution, as much as we can, if it is convenient for everyone, to diffuse the situation. We continue to maintain contact with both sides. We hope that this conflict can be ended as soon as possible. In my opinion, there are no longer any interested parties in continuing this confrontation“, said the Russian leader, noting that Russia had offered assistance in resolving the issue of Iran's peaceful nuclear energy, but then the US and Iran strengthened their positions, “in this area the situation has reached a dead end“.
If the situation around Iran escalates, “everyone will lose“ and he expressed the opinion that agreements on its resolution should be reached in the interests of the countries of the entire region.
Russia only benefits from constructive cooperation and interaction between China and the United States: “We only benefit from this - from stability and constructive interaction between the United States and China.“
Russia and the People's Republic of China have reached a high level of agreement on “taking a significant step forward“ in cooperation in the field of oil and gas.
In order to take this step, “practically all the main issues have been agreed“: “If we can finalize them during the visit, we will see. I will be very happy in China. The interaction between countries like China and Russia is undoubtedly a factor of deterrence and stability.“
Unemployment in Russia is currently 2.2%, the lowest among all G20 countries: “By the way, we have the lowest unemployment rate among all G20 countries – 2.2%, still”, Putin said