“The Old World is over, but don’t blame us, blame yourselves!” – President Putin

ByMalcolm Evans

Malcolm Evans reports on an article published by the Counter-currents Collective; www.countercurrents.org

Speaking to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) last Friday, Russia’s President Putin said, “New centres of power have emerged, the unipolar world order is not coming back, and the “colonial” way of thinking has failed.

When the U.S. declared victory in the Cold War, Americans designated themselves the “messengers of God on earth,” with interests that should be considered sacred and no obligations, Putin told the audience at SPIEF. New centres of power have since emerged, and have the right to protect their own systems, economic models and sovereignty.

These “truly revolutionary, tectonic changes in geopolitics, the global economy, in the technological sphere, in the entire system of international relations,” are “fundamental, pivotal and inexorable,” Putin said. “And It is a mistake to suggest that one can wait out the times of turbulent change and that things will return to normal; that everything will be as it was. It will not.”

When the U.S. and its allies launched the campaign to “cancel” Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, they hoped to crash and undermine the Russian economy and society. The sanctions have instead boomeranged on their creators, aggravating social and economic problems, driving up the cost of food, electricity and fuel, and hurting the quality of life across the West, but especially in Europe.

“The European Union has completely lost its political sovereignty, and its bureaucratic elites are dancing to someone else’s tune, he said. “…accepting whatever they are told from above, causing harm to their own population and their own economy.”.

EU citizens will pay the price for “decisions divorced from reality and taken contrary to common sense,” he added, as direct losses from the sanctions alone could exceed $400 billion in a year.

“Truly sovereign states are always committed to equal partnerships,” while “those who are weak and dependent, as a rule, are busy looking for enemies, planting xenophobia, or finally losing their originality, independence, blindly following the overlord,”

Blaming the high energy prices and inflation in the West on Russia – “Putin’s price hike,” as the White House put it – is a “stupidity” and “designed for people who cannot read or write,” the Russian president said.

“Don’t blame us, blame yourselves,” Putin said.

According to the Russian leader, both the U.S. and the EU addressed the Covid-19 pandemic by printing trillions of dollars and euros.

Policies undertaken by EU and U.S. leaders are exacerbating inequalities and divisions in their societies, not just in terms of welfare but in terms of values and orientations of various groups, Putin said.

“Such a detachment from reality, from the demands of society, will inevitably lead to a surge of populism and the growth of radical movements, to serious social and economic changes, to degradation and, in the near future, to a change of elites,” the Russian leader said.

U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia – in particular fertilizer and grain exports – are one of the reasons for growing global food insecurity, Putin pointed out. If there is famine in the world’s poorest countries, “this will be entirely on the conscience of the US administration and the European bureaucracy.”

Troubles with food supply have arisen over the past several years – not months – due to the “short-sighted actions of those who are accustomed to solving their problems at someone else’s expense,” distorting the trade flows by printing money in a sort of “predatory colonial policy,” Putin said.

Russia is ready to send food to Africa and the Middle East, where the threat of famine is most acute, but faces “logistical, financial, transport” obstacles imposed by the West, he said.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February because the West refused to abide by its obligations, and it was “simply impossible to reach any new agreements with them,” Putin said. The decision was “forced, but necessary,” as Russia had every right as a sovereign country to defend its security and protect its citizens and residents of Donbass from “genocide by the Kiev regime and neo-Nazis who received the full protection of the West.”

The West spent years turning Ukraine into an “anti-Russia” state and pumping it with weapons and military advisers, Putin said, pointing out they “did not give a damn” about Ukraine’s economy or the lives of its people, but “spared no expense to create a NATO foothold in the east, directed against Russia, to cultivate aggression, hatred and Russophobia.”

“All the objectives of the special military operation will be unconditionally achieved,” Putin said.

In the 21st century, sovereignty cannot be partial, Putin argued. All of its elements are equally important and complement each other, and the economy is one of them. There are five key principles Russia will follow in economic development: Openness, freedom, social justice, infrastructure, and technological sovereignty.

Russia will “never follow the path of self-isolation and autarky,” but will expand interactions with anyone who wishes to trade, Putin said, adding there are “many such countries.” Moscow will also support private enterprise, build and repair its transportation infrastructure, seek to reduce social inequality, and ensure its key technologies are not dependent on foreign imports.

“Truly sovereign states are always committed to equal partnerships,” while “those who are weak and dependent, as a rule, are busy looking for enemies, planting xenophobia, or finally losing their originality, independence, blindly following the overlord,” he said.

The full article, of which this report is part, can be accessed here

Geopolitical Update: The Old World Is Over, Says Putin| Countercurrents

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23 Comments

  1. “EU citizens will pay the price for “decisions divorced from reality and taken contrary to common sense,” he added”

    Its true that the west deserve to lose, for being a dumb arse.

    When I was recently attending a free public lecture at the UOA, I was reading the noticeboards and the many requests of students for volunteer’s to participate in their neurological studies.

    None of this research involved any imputation of how food and things like caffeine or social drinking would affect the outcome of this ‘scientific’ research. Just like western medical science pays no heed to input by mouth.

    So output by arse is basically dumb shit as a result.
    The west has lost its way due to money grubbing institutions at the helm. Practising bad science whilst thinking its good science is like praying to a false god.

    Even the Chinese and Indian science/spirit cultures respects the impact on health of what enters the body via mouth, eyes, nose and ears. Its not rocket science.

    Governments putting their head in the sand so corporations can run riot and ruin the people for profit will not end well for the west. Imagine being the head of the household and putting something in the evening meal so you can maintain authority over your weakened spawn. So your sons dont challenge you for the golden apple. How will your seed end?

    The west deserves to lose for being a dumb arse, and saying 2+2=5.

    Orwells 1984 was spot on.

  2. While I can recognize the wrong action of the western nations Putin is the last person I would be relying on for an objective opinion on the subject.

    1. Recoiling in horror after the American filth destroyed Libya, Putin stopped America from murdering millions more in Syria and Iran. Noone has done more to fight back against the enemies of humanity.

  4. Putin has already declared his intent, to de-Nazify NATO, starting with Ukraine. He has said of nuclear war Russians will go to heaven and their enemies will just die – the standard line of all Tsars.

  5. The Herald ran an article just today about another “Russian disinformation campaign”, which in all likelihood had nothing to do with the country and it’s people and everything to do with America and it’s lapdogs not getting their way. The propagandists of the Five bung Eyes now use the word ‘Russia’ as a stand in for all the evils of world, used to describe everything from ‘dissenters’ who don’t align with total Western hegemony (i.e. those daring to question the current narrative using fact-based journalism) to the ‘Russian curse’ which caused them to spill their coffee or stub their toe or even lose an election. They appear to be presenting with some type of mental disorder, a neurosis which may evolve from simple compulsion or tic (for example exhibiting tourettes outbursts such as “f#*k Russia” every so often) but which could lead to serious outcomes for society if not treated (far right pathologies). Look to these Russiaphobe fanatics if you would like to observe projection, falsehoods, conspiracy theories, moral degeneracy, media manipulation, legal disrepute, economic piracy, violence as virtue and geopolitical interference in action today.

  6. Sadly we are experiencing the beginning of the 2nd cold war.
    Orchestrated by the usual western protagonists but with no surprise to Putin and his close advisors.
    They have been preparing for this eventuality because any US destabilisation is festooned with lies, propaganda and a hegemonic mentality.
    If only the Minsk agreements had been abided by. But of course, with the likes of Victoria Nuland and Geoffrey Pyatt and company carrying out Washington’s/NATO’s plan, adherence was never a possibility.
    The Russian economy is stabilised by a highly productive energy sector and boasts a 17% debt to GDP ratio, in comparison the US is 133% debt to GDP.
    Instead of building closer trading ties with Europe in the West, now Putin will look to the East and a China/Russia commitment is enticing to many countries who do not follow the West’s idea of a (US) rules based world order.
    Unfortunately we have super powers involved militarily and it will only take a misstep or over reach on the part of a beleaguered small nation to spark WW3.
    Right on cue Lithuania has decided to blockade Kaliningrad.
    It is obvious the EU/NATO masters have played a coercive role and the response from Putin is that the Baltic will be used to freight whatever the people of Kaliningrad need.
    But an attempt to stop, threaten or attack any Russian freighter would immediately provoke a swift and terrifying response from Russia.
    The new head of the British Army is already making war-like comments and appears to be salivating at the thought of entering into a period of what would potentially be a global catastrophe.
    As a country who has a history of Western Alliances we are following the well beaten path of the hegemonic US and their cabal of dutiful lackeys.
    As per usual an excellent post Malcolm.

  7. What is the point of this article? Just quoting Putin verbatim and no analysis? Just seems to be an exercise in baiting all those closet Putinite nazis out there who hate America.
    If Putin is offering himself as the harbinger of the ‘New World’ then God help us, and I’m not religious.
    Putin who got shoulder tapped by the drunken Yeltsin as a suitable KGB thug to take the reins of the nuclear superpower with 6,000 nuclear warheads. The guy who, since his inception in 2000, has gradually destroyed every semblance of political freedom, created a police terror state, destroyed the free press, poisoned, jailed, killed and stifled any political opposition, concentrated the country’s wealth into the hands of a handful of similarly minded thugs, massively increased military spending and actively created a military mindset across Russian society starting with children (remember Hitler Youth?) and now a certifiable war criminal.
    Appalling human being. Who compares himself to Peter the Great! Whose 22 years of ego-driven hubris has resulted in the worst decision ever made by a Russian leader. Who has committed up to 30,000 young Russian males to die in a pointless war against their own neighbours with whom many have family ties, who has overseen the bombardment to rubble of entire cities while people lived in them! Apartment blocks attacked with missiles! Hospitals and killing pregnant women and their unborn babies, and around 300 children so far! How is this acceptable to any sane, thinking person?
    And this Putin who believes his own bullshit he sells to the gullible strongman-loving Russian people. Killing the Ukrainian Nazis?
    Yes, the Ukrainian Nationalists during WW2 sided with the invading Germans briefly because they hated the Russian dominance so much. But then they were targeted by the Germans so became exiled or fought back. The Nazis actually saw the Ukrainians as sub-human. This historical memory, though, seems to be what Putin is drawing on. There is obviously a general Russian feeling that the Ukrainians once sided with the greatest genocidal maniacs to ever set foot in Russia, no matter that these same maniacs killed millions of Ukrainians as well.
    Barely 2% of the vote has gone to far-right groups in the Ukrainian elections. Every country has its nazis, but check the percentages. Denazifying Ukraine with a cruel war to eliminate 2%? Putin’s argument is ludicrous. The Azov regiment supposedly had far-right links but had apparently moderated their views in the process of assimilation into the regular army. So, tellingly, Putin saw a big prize in capturing the survivors of this regiment in Mariupol and has played on it with some very scary scenarios that could develop for these prisoners of war. So much for the Geneva Convention. We haven’t heard any news of them since their capture except some Russian extremist in a government position calling for the death penalty.
    So, Putin’s ‘New World’ be damned. I hate fascist thugs and I can smell them a mile off. I knew Putin was a gangster back in 2006 when he had the critical journalist Anna Politkovskaya gunned down in her Moscow apartment. The guy’s been poisoning and murdering his critics on a regular basis since that time. Nikolai Glushkov, a Putin critic, was strangled in his London home. A Russian exile, the business dude was found dead in south-west London in March 2018.
    If you really want to know what a bastard old Vlad is though, read the book written by former Russian spy and Kremlin critic, Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned with a radioactive substance and died a terrible death in 2006, the same year as Anna Politkovskaya. Litvinenko’s book is a shocker, a real eye-opener, a complete and utter exposes of a dangerous Hitlerian thug. The world was told as far back as then, so now we shouldn’t be shocked, right?
    So Putin has shown his true colours now to the West. And they should really be welcoming him to their club, since the post-WW2 American presidents have all excelled in war crimes. Putin is by far the most irresponsible world leader since…Dubya!. But let’s not all start hating on America for that, we’ve all done our hating on America, as far back as the 80s and the time when the World Court found the US guilty of violent aggression in Nicaragua and ordered them to stop. Instead, Washington and the Pentagon ignored the World Court, ignored the UN resolution against them and just carried on bombing a small defenceless country to mud and rubble, killing tens of thousands. (Anyone heard the Clash album?). Yes, we all hate on America, we hated on America then, and many of us could see plainly that they had something of a minor punishment for their crimes with 9/11.
    How this all ends is anyone’s guess. Will Ukraine prevail? Will they get enough weapons and in time, provided by NATO? Will Putin be deposed somehow? Will one of his generals risk all for the sake of Mother Russia? Will the generals rise up in unisen? Will a Ukrainian hit squad finally rid the world of this monster? Will China open up a Pacific theatre to WW3? It’s all incredibly frightening. And we have no influential world voice against an ensuing arms race and global militarisation. And we have a great anti-nuclear tradition in Aotearoa/New Zealand, instigated by the great Labour leaders Norman Kirk and David Lange. Ardern has already forcefully announced her commitment to that stance, so let’s hope she can bring some kind of sanity to the table at the NATO meeting next week.
    But for my money the best theory I’ve read is that every century has it’s real beginning at between 14 and 22 years in. Waterloo – 1815, WW1- 1914, Russo-Ukrainian War, 2022.

      1. My bullshit detector triggered immediately. Another book to sell, more tales to tell.

        Putin’s People
        How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West
        Catherine Belton

        THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

        ‘The Putin book that we’ve been waiting for’ Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland

        ‘Books about modern Russia abound … Belton has surpassed them all. Her much-awaited book is the best and most important on modern Russia’ The Times

        A chilling and revelatory expose of the KGB’s renaissance, Putin’s rise to power, and how Russian black cash is subverting the world.

        In Putin’s People, former Moscow correspondent and investigative journalist Catherine Belton reveals the untold story of how Vladimir Putin and his entourage of KGB men seized power in Russia and built a new league of oligarchs.

        Through exclusive interviews with key inside players, Belton tells how Putin’s people conducted their relentless seizure of private companies, took over the economy, siphoned billions, blurred the lines between organised crime and political powers, shut down opponents, and then used their riches and power to extend influence in the West.

        In a story that ranges from Moscow to London, Switzerland and Trump’s America, Putin’s People is a gripping and terrifying account of how hopes for the new Russia went astray, with stark consequences for its inhabitants and, increasingly, the world.

        ‘A fearless, fascinating account … Reads at times like a John le Carré novel … A groundbreaking and meticulously researched anatomy of the Putin regime, Belton’s book shines a light on the pernicious threats Russian money and influence now pose to the west’ Guardian

  8. A very very rare chance to hear from the other side. Noam Chomsky has said that he has never seen such censorship since WW2.

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