"Ultimately, the selfishness and arrogance of Western states have led to the current extremely dangerous state of affairs. We have come unacceptably close to the point of no return," Putin said. "Calls for a strategic defeat of Russia, which possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, demonstrate the utter adventurism of Western politicians. They are either unaware of the scale of the threat they themselves pose or are simply obsessed with the belief in their own impunity and their own exceptionalism."
"Both can turn into tragedy," Putin warned, TASS reported.
It was the United States, he went on to say, that undermined strategic stability and ruined the system of confidence-building measures and arms control in the European space.
"I would also remind you that it was Washington that torpedoed strategic stability by unilaterally withdrawing from the treaties on anti-ballistic missile defense, on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, and on open skies," the Putin said. "Together with the NATO satellites, the US ruined the system of confidence-building measures and arms control in the European space, which had been created over decades."
"Now the West is trying to aggressively meddle in the affairs of West Asia. At a certain point they monopolized this track. The result is clear and obvious to everyone today," Putin pointed out. "Also, there are the South Caucasus and Central Asia."
"Two years ago, at the NATO summit in Madrid, they announced that the alliance would now deal with security issues not only in the Euro-Atlantic region, but also in the Asia-Pacific region. It is obvious that behind this there is an attempt to step up pressure on those countries in the region whose development they are out to impede," Putin said. "As you know, our country, Russia, is high on this list.
SD/PR
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