Putin accuses the West of releasing 'genie from the bottle' and starting war in Ukraine

21 February 2023, 09:37 | Updated: 21 February 2023, 12:34

Vladimir Putin has blamed Western governments for the war in Ukraine in a major speech.

In his state of the nation address, Putin accused the West of ‘letting the genie out of the bottle’ and plunging the world into chaos.

He said Ukraine and the West started the war and Russia was “using force to stop it”.

"Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies," Putin said.

He accused the West of withdrawing from "fundamental agreements" and making "hypocritical statements" as well as expanding the Nato defence alliance to cover Russia “with an umbrella”.

In the only major announcement contained in the speech, Putin said he was suspending Russia's participation in a major arms control agreement with the US.

New Start is the last remaining nuclear arms deal between Moscow and Washington, and it was extended for five years in 2021.

Read more: Andrew Marr: Are the Americans really prepared for a war to the end, as Biden suggests?

Putin said :”I want to repeat: it is them who are culpable for the war, and we are using force to stop it.”

He said the aim of the West was to "direct aggression eastwards and eliminate competition", claiming the West wants to "grow a local conflict into a global one".

The speech comes as fears grow over a new major offensive by Moscow.

Putin vowed he would ‘defend the interests’ of Russia as he deepened divisions with the West in a long speech to both houses of Russia’s parliament.

He claimed the West was ‘working behind our backs’ to undermine Russia and fell back on old rhetoric, saying: “"We are defending people's lives, but the West's goals are limitless power.”

Russia is estimated to have lost almost 150,000 soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

The speech comes one day after Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv where he pledged more support for Ukraine.

Russia is feared to be preparing a new offensive with as many as 500,000 troops believed to be gathering for an attack on Ukraine.

Mr Putin has frequently justified his invasion of Ukraine by accusing western countries of threatening Russia.

"It's they who have started the war and we are using force to end it," Mr Putin said.

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 economy and social issues.

Underscoring the anticipation, some state TV channels put out a countdown for the event, while Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti said the address may be "historic".

The Kremlin this year barred media from "unfriendly" countries, including the US, UK and those in the EU.

Mr Peskov said journalists from those nations would be able to cover the speech by watching the broadcast.

Senior Russian politician and leader of the nationalist LDPR party, Leonid Slutsky, was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying Mr Putin will 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".

The speech came as the leader of Putin’s ‘private army’ launched an unprecedented attack on Russian defence chiefs.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s Wagner group, alleged that the country’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov were depriving his fighters of munitions.

“There is simply direct opposition going on,” Prigozhin said in a voice message posted Telegram. He said it was “an attempt to destroy the Wagner”.

Putin has frequently justified his invasion of Ukraine by accusing western countries of threatening Russia.

The long-delayed address by Putin comes days before the war's first anniversary on Friday.

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 also cancelled two other big annual events - Mr Putin's press conference and a highly scripted phone-in marathon where people ask the President questions.