By
The Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused Western countries of unleashing and maintaining the war in Ukraine, rejecting any blame on Moscow nearly a year after the start of the invasion, which has already killed tens of thousands of people.
The president also announced the suspension of his country's compliance with START III or New START, the last nuclear disarmament treaty still in force between Russia and the US.
In his long-delayed state of the nation address, Putin branded Russia - and Ukraine - victims of the West's double game and said it was Russia, not Ukraine, that was fighting for its own existence.
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“We are not fighting against the Ukrainian people,” Putin declared in a speech days before the first anniversary of the war on Friday.
Ukraine "has become a hostage to the kyiv regime and its Western masters, who have effectively occupied the country."
The speech reiterated a litany of grievances that the Russian leader has frequently offered as justification for the widely condemned war, and ignored international demands to withdraw from occupied Ukraine.
Observers are expected to scrutinize it for clues as to how Putin views the conflict, which has become bogged down, and what tone it might set for next year.
The Russian leader has vowed not to let up on his military efforts in the Ukrainian territories he has illegally annexed, apparently rejecting any bid for peace in a conflict that has reignited fears of a new Cold War.
"You can't beat Russia on the battlefield," he said.
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Instead, he offered his personalized version of recent history, which dismissed the Ukrainian government's arguments that it needed Western help to thwart a Russian military takeover.
“Western elites are not trying to hide their goals, to inflict a 'strategic defeat' on Russia.
They intend to transform the local conflict into a global confrontation," Putin said in the speech broadcast on all state television channels.
He added that Russia is prepared to respond to it, since "it will be a question of the existence of our country."
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Although the constitution obliges the president to deliver the speech annually, Putin never delivered one in 2022, as his troops pushed deep into Ukraine and suffered repeated setbacks.
Before the speech, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader would focus on the "special military operation" in Ukraine, as Moscow calls it, and Russia's economic and social problems.
Many observers predicted that he, too, would address Moscow's rift with the West, and Putin began with harsh words for those countries.
“It is they who have started the war.
And we are using force to put an end to it," Putin told an audience of lawmakers, state officials and soldiers who have fought in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to deliver his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, February 21, 2023.Dmitry Astakhov/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Putin accused the West of launching "aggressive information attacks" and targeting Russian culture, religion and values because he is aware that "it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield."
He also accused Western nations of attacking the Russian economy with sanctions, but declared that they "have achieved nothing and will achieve nothing."
Underlining the anticipation, some state television channels put a countdown to the event from Monday, and Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti said Tuesday morning that the speech may be "historic."
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This year, the Kremlin has banned the media from "non-friendly" countries, whose list includes the United States, the United Kingdom and those of the European Union (EU).
Peskov said journalists from those nations will be able to cover the speech by watching the broadcast.
Peskov told reporters that the delay in the speech had to do with Putin's “work schedule”, but Russian media linked it to the multiple setbacks Russian forces have suffered on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The Russian president had previously postponed the state of the nation address: in 2017, the speech was rescheduled for early 2018.
Last year, the Kremlin also canceled two other big annual events: Putin's press conference and a highly scripted phone marathon in which people ask the president questions.
Analysts expected Putin's speech to be harsh following US President Joe Biden's visit to kyiv on Monday.
Biden is scheduled to deliver his own speech later on Tuesday in Poland, where he is expected to highlight the Central European country's and other allies' commitment to Ukraine over the past year.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden's speech would not be "sort of toe-to-toe" with Putin's.
“This is not a rhetorical competition with anyone,” he said.