'It's they who have started the war': Putin rails against West in state-of-the-nation address

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin railed against the West in his long-delayed state-of-the-nation address on Tuesday, a speech expected to shed light on how the Kremlin sees its bogged-down war in Ukraine and set the tone for the year ahead.

Putin has frequently justified his invasion of his neighbour by accusing Western countries of threatening Russia. They say nothing could be further from the truth and that Moscow's forces attacked Ukraine unprovoked.

"It's they who have started the war. And we are using force to end it," Putin said before an audience of lawmakers, state officials and soldiers who have fought in Ukraine.

While the Constitution mandates that the president deliver the speech annually, Putin never gave one in 2022, as his troops rolled into Ukraine and suffered repeated setbacks. Now the address comes days before the war's first anniversary on Friday.

Before the speech, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian leader would focus on the "special military operation" in Ukraine, as Moscow calls it, and Russia's economy and social issues. Many observers predicted it would also address Moscow's fallout with the West and Putin began with strong words for those countries.

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The West is aware that "it is impossible to defeat Russia on the battlefield," so it launches "aggressive information attacks" by "misconstruing historical facts," attacking Russian culture, religion and values, Putin said in the speech broadcast by all state TV channels.

Citing another justification he has used for the war, Putin claimed his forces are protecting civilians in regions of Ukraine that Moscow has since illegally annexed.

"We are defending people's lives, our home," he said. "And the West is striving for an unlimited domination."

Underscoring the anticipation ahead of time, some state TV channels put out a countdown for the event starting Monday, and Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday morning said the address may be "historic."

The Kremlin this year has barred media from "unfriendly" countries, the list of which includes the US, the UK and those in the EU. Peskov said journalists from those nations will be able to cover the speech by watching the broadcast.

Senior Russian lawmaker and leader of the nationalist LDPR party Leonid Slutsky was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying that Putin would set priorities "that will deprive our enemies of the hope to defeat Russia, weaken it or try to subdue it to their neo-colonial leadership."

Political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya said the address "was expected to be very hawkish, aimed at defiantly breaking off relations with the West." In the wake of US President Joe Biden's visit to Kyiv on Monday, "additional edits can be made to make it even harsher."

Peskov told reporters that the speech's delay had to do with Putin's "work schedule," but Russian media reports linked it to the multiple setbacks Russian forces have suffered on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Russian president had postponed the state-of-the-nation address before: In 2017, the speech was rescheduled for early 2018.

Last year the Kremlin has also cancelled two other big annual events Putin's press conference and a highly scripted phone-in marathon where people ask the president questions. (AP)