Putin’s speech at the WEF showed how his views have changed

In the keynote speech of Vladimir Putin, with which he addressed the guests and participants of the WEF, there was not a word about Ukraine. The President again criticized the collective West for reckless decisions made at the suggestion of the United States, and was proud that Russia was handling sanctions better than experts expected. The very “bottom”, according to him, has already been passed, and the situation is gradually returning to normal – “the most important indicators speak about this.”

The economic downturn will be “insignificant” – in the region of 2%. And inflation will drop to 12% by the end of the year, and by the beginning of the second quarter of 2023 it will return to the target of 4-6%. The president’s prognosis turned out to be even more optimistic than the recent statements by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, who was accused by many of being capricious. However, the main thing, according to GDP, is not even specific indicators, but a general trend: if in Europe the situation is only getting worse (enterprises are closing, inflation and unemployment are growing), then in Russia it is improving in all directions. The confidence of the authorities in the future is clearly evidenced by the budget, some parameters of which were first announced by Putin.

Despite the special operation and the costs of overcoming sanctions, it provides for a large surplus (almost 500 billion rubles). “And the consolidated budget of the regions is drawn up very well – a surplus of 1.5 trillion rubles,” Vladimir Putin voiced the good news.

He explained that he did not say anything about Ukraine, since this country is not part of the region to which the Far Eastern forum is dedicated. However, the topic is up for discussion. Putin stressed that initially the aggression against the DPR and LPR was shown by the Kyiv regime. And Russia only answered “mirror”, and did it in full accordance with the norms of international law. “We did it deliberately.

This is our duty, and we will fulfill it to the end. This will lead to the strengthening of the country both from within and in the world,” Putin said, stressing that after February 24, Russia has not lost anything, but has gained a lot – and, most importantly, has strengthened its sovereignty. This time, he openly called the Kyiv regime illegitimate, explaining that the primary source of power for the current leadership of Ukraine is the coup of 2014. Recall that earlier the SVO was considered “self-defense against the threats created by Russia and even greater trouble.”

And Vladimir Zelensky was publicly called the legitimate president in the Kremlin. It is noteworthy that exactly a year ago, when Putin was asked if Zelensky would ever come to the WEF, he did not even think about it. “Why not? I really count on this, because I think that the situation we are in is absolutely abnormal and unnatural, ”VVP replied then. Quite a bit of time passed, and the abnormal situation was replaced by a new normality, in which such a question does not even occur to anyone.

Vladimir Putin admitted that the special operation led to polarization in the world and within the country, but this, in his opinion, will only benefit. “Everything that is unnecessary, harmful, everything that prevents us from moving forward will be rejected,” the president emphasized. Later, he will say that the journalists who left the country were only glad to have the opportunity to leave “under the guise that something threatens them here.” According to the GDP, “the current situation forces those who have it to determine their position.”

Some journalists decided to go to the nearest foreign country and work in anti-Russian centers. Others remained to explain to the citizens the position of the Russian leadership regarding “actions aimed at protecting the interests of the Russian people.” “The vast majority of citizens understand this position,” he stressed. Putin made it clear that he does not consider the harsh sentence given to Ivan Safronov, who was sentenced to 22 years in the case of treason, and the closure of the newspaper of Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov as pressure on the media. He refused to judge the fairness of Safronov’s sentence, recalling that the Prosecutor General has the right to protest it, and the convict himself has the right to appeal.

At the same time, the President, apparently, considers it proven that the Kommersant journalist “earned money by collecting the relevant materials and handing them over to one of the Western intelligence agencies.” Previously, the GDP said that one should not be prosecuted for the dissemination of data from open sources, but the corresponding changes to the article on treason were never made. The attitude towards the Nobel Prize of Dmitry Muratov has also changed. If in the fall of 2021 the president congratulated him on good company in the person of Obama and Gorbachev, now he made it clear that Obama received the award undeservedly. And in general, “The Nobel Committee disavowed and devalued the significance of prizes in the humanitarian field.”

In addition to Putin, politicians from China, Mongolia, Armenia and Myanmar took part in the plenary session of the forum. However, this year the moderator paid even less attention to foreign guests than usually happens. Even Nikol Pashinyan spoke much less at the WEF than Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev at SPIEF. (However, recalling the speech of Tokayev, who called the DPR and LPR quasi-states that will never be recognized by Kazakhstan, one can assume that this was deliberately conceived.)

However, the organizers worried in vain. Unlike Tokayev, Pashinyan, who was once described as a pro-Western politician, was extremely cautious in his assessments. He did not speak about the conflict in Ukraine at all. And the move to Armenia of thousands of Russians was connected not with political convictions, but with material interests: “they need to receive salaries” from employers located abroad.

Although the European countries have as little relation to the Asia-Pacific region as Ukraine, they were initially talked about a lot at the forum – much more than about the eastern neighbors. Vladimir Putin made it clear that Russia is dissatisfied with the way the “grain” agreement is being implemented, which the EU called on Moscow to conclude in order to save the hungry. Only two of the 87 ships carrying Ukrainian food went to developing countries.

And the rest moored in Europe. Putin promised to consult with Erdogan on limiting the export of grain and other agricultural products from Ukrainian ports along the European route. As for the EU’s decision to impose a price ceiling on Russian oil and gas, according to the president, this is “stupidity” and “nonsense” that has no prospects: political guidelines that contradict contracts will not be implemented by Moscow. “In general, we will not supply anything – neither gas, nor oil, nor coal, nor fuel oil. There will be only one thing left: to say “freeze, freeze, wolf tail,” he threatened.

However, there is a strong impression that Putin does not believe in such a development of events and expects that, under pressure from citizens, politicians in the West will be forced to change their minds closer to winter. “We see that demonstrations are now going on in Germany demanding the inclusion of Nord Stream 2. We share these consumer demands. We are ready to do it tomorrow, all you have to do is press a button,” VVP said.

But even if we assume that Nord Stream 2 will never be launched, huge funds are well spent. According to Putin, during the construction, Russia received advanced technologies that it did not have before. And where to apply them – there is already a huge number of plans for the construction of gas pipelines towards friendly countries.

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