President Vladimir Putin delivered his State of the Nation Address to the Russian people on February 29, outlining his views on how the war in Ukraine is progressing and Russia's relationship with the West.
The Kremlin chief's 19th annual speech, and only the 29th in the country's history, was televised nationwide and even shown in some cinemas. It came less than three weeks before Russia's presidential election.
Putin’s speech to both houses of parliament, the State Duma and the Federation Council, as well as invited guests, lasted just over two hours and covered a wide range of issues. Here are some of the new points from the Russian leader’s message this year.
Conflict in Ukraine
Mr Putin began his speech with a series of references to the ongoing conflict in the Eastern European neighbour, which Russia calls a “special military operation”.
“Despite all the trials and bitter losses, people stuck to this choice,” Mr Putin said, referring to the “special military operation” that he claimed the majority of the population supported.
In the first part of his speech, he also accused the West of “trying to drag us into an arms race” by “trying to weaken us”, before moving on to talk about global perspectives and then domestic issues such as economic development.
“The West is not only trying to hold back our development… sow discord at home and weaken us from within,” he said, adding, “However, they have miscalculated.”
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking after a summit of European leaders in Paris, said that despite a current lack of consensus, sending Western forces to fight alongside Ukrainians to prevent Russia from winning there “does not rule out”.
Such a move would have tragic consequences for “interferers,” Mr Putin said. He also said such Western involvement would increase the risk of global nuclear war.
“Russia has weapons that can strike targets on their territory and what they are proposing and scaring the world, all of that increases the real threat of a nuclear conflict that would mean the destruction of our civilization,” the Russian president said.
While dismissing Western reports that Moscow was considering deploying nuclear weapons in space, Mr Putin said Russia's nuclear forces were at "full readiness" and his military had deployed new weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his State of the Union address to the Federal Assembly and the nation on February 29, 2024. Photo: Al Jazeera
He also said the new Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile has entered service with Russia's nuclear forces, while the country is completing testing of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and the Poseidon nuclear-powered unmanned aerial vehicle.
Referring to Finland and Sweden becoming NATO's 31st and 32nd members, Putin said Russia would need to strengthen its western military district. Finland has a long land border with northwestern Russia.
Economic performance
In his speech, President Putin said that Russia is now the largest economy in Europe in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) and could join the global Top 4. He noted that by 2023, the Russian economy would have outpaced the G7 countries in terms of growth rate.
“The speed and quality of growth allow us to say that in the near future we will take a step forward and become one of the four world economic powers,” Putin said.
PPP compares economic productivity and living standards across countries by adjusting for differences in the cost of goods and services. According to World Bank estimates, by 2023, Russia will be the world's fifth largest economy by PPP, and the only European country in the top five, with China, the US, India and Japan taking the top four spots.
Russian soldiers during a field exercise in the special military operation zone in Ukraine. Photo: Sputnik
According to official Moscow statistics, the Russian economy is set to grow by 3.6% in 2023, despite being subject to a series of international economic sanctions and isolated from major financial markets.
Mr Putin also said that the BRICS countries are surpassing the G7 in terms of their share of global GDP in terms of PPP. The BRICS share will increase to 36.6% by 2028, while the G7 share will decrease to 27.8%, according to estimates provided by the Russian President.
According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the share of the G7 (including the UK, US, Germany, Japan, France, Canada and Italy) in global GDP in terms of PPP has been falling steadily over the years, falling from 50.42% in 1982 to 30.39% in 2022. The Washington DC-based organization predicts that this figure will fall to 29.44% this year.
BRICS, a group of emerging economies that previously included Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, underwent a major expansion after Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined in January this year.
Saudi Arabia has also been invited and is preparing to become a member. Many other countries have expressed interest in joining, while some have formally applied to join the group .
Minh Duc (According to DW, RT, RFE/RL)
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