In a significant speech on the Ukraine war, Putin rails against the West while praising troops

• Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine’s friends for instigating the war.
• He accused the West and Nato of attempting to “globalize the fight” and hailed the country’s military.
• Putin’s statement comes as US President Joe Biden arrives in Warsaw after a surprise visit to Kyiv.

In a long-delayed state-of-the-nation address, Vladimir Putin railed against the West, blaming Ukraine’s friends for instigating the war.

Putin maintains that his conflict, which has killed tens of thousands, is necessary to “demilitarise” Ukraine. The West and Nato dispute this, accusing Putin of launching an unprovoked war of expansion.

In a meandering speech ahead of the war’s one-year anniversary on Friday, Putin accused the West and Nato of attempting to “globalize the fight” and hailed the country’s military.

“I am making this address at a time which we all know is a difficult, watershed moment for our country, a time of cardinal, irreversible changes around the world, the most important historical events that will shape the future of our country and our people,” Putin told Russian lawmakers.

“We did everything possible, genuinely everything possible, in order to solve this problem [in Ukraine] by peaceful means.

“We were patient, we were negotiating a peaceful way out of this difficult conflict, but a completely different scenario was being prepared behind our backs.”

He added: “It’s they who have started the war. And we are using force to end it.”

The Russian leader said the government would establish a special fund for the families of soldiers killed in its invasion of Ukraine.

“We all understand, I understand how unbearably hard it is now for the wives, sons, daughters of fallen soldiers, their parents, who raised worthy defenders of the Fatherland,” he said.

A top Ukrainian official responded that Putin’s statement demonstrated his disconnect from reality.

“He is in a completely other reality,” presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters.

Putin’s statement comes as US President Joe Biden arrives in Warsaw after a surprise visit to Kyiv, where he assured that the West would stick behind Ukraine for as long as it takes.

The White House reports that Mr. Biden is listening to the address before making his own remarks in Poland.

Reacting to Moscow’s assertion that the West started the war, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated, “Nobody is attacking Russia. The concept that Russia was under some kind of military danger from Ukraine or anyone else is ludicrous.”

After a series of severe battlefield reverses during the war, Russia still occupies around one-fifth of Ukraine.

Among these are forced retreats from Kyiv, Kharkiv in the northeast, and Kherson in the south.

Russian officials are also expected to declare victory on the eastern frontline of Bakhmut to coincide with the anniversary – regardless of the outcome.

Russia is widely expected to launch a spring attack, which might exacerbate tensions within the Russian leadership if it is unsuccessful.

Jailed On Monday, Russian opposition lawmaker Alexei Navalny accused Putin of destroying Russia’s future for the sake of personal ambition.

“The real reasons for this war are the political and economic problems within Russia, Putin’s desire to hold on to power at any cost, and his obsession with his own historical legacy,” Mr. Navalny said.

“He wants to go down in history as ‘the conqueror tsar’”.

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