While European leaders dream of high over the day after the war, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, recalls that this is not over and will never accept foreign soldiers in a country that has invaded to have it under control. “If troops appear there, especially now, during the military operation, we will start from the base that they will be legitimate objectives to be destroyed,” said the Russian leader during his speech this Friday in the Economic Forum of Vladivostok. “[El despliegue] Of military contingents in Ukraine it would be one of the main reasons to integrate it into NATO, ”added the Russian president in an attempt to settle that debate. In addition, Putin has made it clear, which has described as“ an endless process that does not lead anywhere ”, and has emphasized that he will not meet with President Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, if it is not to sign the end of the War that the Kremlin wants.
“I have repeatedly said that I am willing to these contacts [entre las delegaciones rusa y ucrania]but I don’t see much sense. Because? Because it will be practically impossible to reach an agreement with the Ukraine part on key issues. And even if there is political will, which I doubt, there are legal and technical difficulties, ”Putin emphasized.
The Russian president wants Zelenski to raise martial law in full invasion of his country. However, Putin feels frustrated by the legal guarantees of Ukraine democracy. “To celebrate a referendum [en Ucrania]it is necessary to lift the martial law. If martial law is raised, presidential elections must be held immediately. And after the referendum is held, the decision of the Constitutional Court is needed, ”said Putin, accustomed to the Russian courts and Parliament being at the service of the Kremlin.
The Russian president has declared that the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine “would not make sense” if “a lasting peace” is reached because, according to Putin, Moscow “will completely fulfill his agreements.” However, Kremlin so far rejects any concession that does not lead to a Ukrainian capitulation.
The Russian leader has also thrown a jug of cold water on another of the initiatives debated between the United States, Europe and Ukraine. “No one has seriously discussed with Russia about security guarantees,” Putin has emphasized, in reference to the security umbrella that is intended to grant kyiv to avoid new invasions.
“Security guarantees must be given to both Russia and Ukraine,” said Putin, who considers “impossible to solve Ukraine security problems without taking into account Russia’s security.” In addition, Moscow links these guarantees to a total reformulation of balance in Eastern Europe, since even the German border, its limit prior to the 1997 expansion.
Putin has made a differentiation between the European Union and NATO by stating that it does not oppose the integration of Ukraine into the community bloc. “It is a legitimate decision of Ukraine how he builds his international relations,” said the Russian leader. However, the story denies the Russian autocrat. Russia boycotted in 2013 the adhesion of Ukraine to the Association and Free Trade Agreements with the European Union. The Kremlin pressed the then president Viktor Yanukóvich with a road transport block and a deployment of troops on his border. When the Ukrainians protested in Maidan and the government fell, Putin was annexed by Crimea and sent troops east of Ukraine.
“Yanukóvich spilled tears when he learned of the economic consequences of Ukraine adhesion to the European Union,” said Putin this Friday with cynicism. The Russian leader has insisted again in the story with which he justifies his invasion of Ukraine 11 years later. “After the coup in Ukraine, the forces that advocated adhesion to NATO came to power,” he had settled.
Regarding the meeting between Zelenski and Putin, the Russian president has insisted that President Ukraine goes. “Moscow, the heroic city [título concedido a la urbe por su papel en la II Guerra Mundial]it is the best place for a summit between Russia and Ukraine, ”said Putin.“ We will guarantee 100% the necessary conditions for this activity and its security, ”said the Russian leader.
On the forum it flew over the shadow of the Russian crisis. Alexander Shevelev, director of one of the main metallurgical, Seversal, has warned that the Russian industry faces a collapse “as lived in the 1990s” after the collapse of the Soviet Union. “A financial deficit could convert in the long term industrial companies into a rusty metal battery,” said Shevelev. For his part, German Gref, president of Sberbank, the largest bank in the country with more than 100 million customers, has warned that there are indications that Russia entered “in technical stagnation” between April and June of this year.
Putin, who in 2022 said that his invasion marched “according to the plan”, had refuted the warnings of his entrepreneurs, including that of the boss, with which he has assured “being constantly in contact.” According to Putin, this slowdown is due to high interest rates of the Central Bank and defends “that prices fall not only in stores, but also among all the actors in the economy.”
“We need to solve macroeconomic problems and, for this, we must guarantee a soft and quiet landing of the economy,” has been the reassuring message of Putin, the same president to lower interest rates.
