Vladimir Putin has issued another warning to the West the world is “close to a point of no return.”
Putin has accused the West of “selfishness and hypocrisy” this is leading to a “dangerous turn of events.”
He further warned that plans made by the West to loan Kyiv money from frozen Russian assets from overseas will not be left unpunished.
The Russian despot told Foreign Ministry officials, “Calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons demonstrate the extreme recklessness of Western politicians.
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“They either do not understand the scale of the threat they are creating – or are simply obsessed with their own sense of impunity and exceptionalism.
“Both can lead to tragedy.”
On Thursday G7 leaders agreed to provide Kyiv with $50 billion in loans using frozen Russian assets based overseas.
Speaking of this, Putin said, “Despite all the chicanery, theft will certainly remain theft. And it will not go unpunished,’ he said.
“Now it is becoming obvious to all countries, companies (and) sovereign funds that their assets and reserves are far from safe in both the legal and economic sense of the word.
“Anyone could be next in line for expropriation by the US and the West.”
He said that the West’s model of security across the world is not working and “needs to be essentially created anew.”
He added, “All this requires us, together with our partners, with all interested countries, and there are many of them, to work out our own options for ensuring security in Eurasia, proposing them then for wider international discussion.
“We live on the same continent. No matter what happens, you cannot change the geography. We will have to coexist and work together one way or another.”
The Russian leader said is more than happy to discuss peace talks, but officials in Kyiv must “completely withdraw from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
“[It’s] important to note, from all territories of these regions within their administrative borders which existed upon their accession to Ukraine.
“As soon as Kyiv says they’re ready for such decision and start the real withdrawal of forces form these regions and officially declare rejection of plans to join NATO, from our side, immediately, literally the same minute, will come an order to stop the fire and start negotiations.
“We will do it immediately. Obviously, we will guarantee the uninterrupted and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian forces.”
Putin went on to say that Russia never started the war in Ukraine, he blamed Kyiv for their hostilities.
Putin said, “In the West, the thesis that Russia started the war within the framework of a special military operation, that it is the aggressor, is constantly being repeated.
“I would like to emphasize once again that Russia did not start the war. It is the Kiev regime, after the citizens of a part of Ukraine declared their independence in accordance with international law, that started hostilities and continues them.
“This is aggression.”
