Putin says he was ‘forced’ to invade Ukraine, shrugging off Western sanctions and economic downturn
A defiant President Vladimir Putin has said Russia was “forced” to invade Ukraine, as he shrugged off Western sanctions and predicted the Russian economy will grow in a wide-ranging speech.
Delivering the keynote address at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, the Russian leader shared his views on the conflict in Ukraine, as well as Russia’s economic situation and nuclear weapons.
He also insisted on a minute’s silence for former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who died on Monday. The two were known to have had a close relationship.
During the speech to an audience of business leaders and foreign dignitaries, Mr Putin attempted to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The war in Ukraine was begun by the Ukrainian regime with the support of their Western sponsors in 2014”, he said.
“Bombing began then in the Donbas – that is war.
“I was forced to use the armed forces in response to the request of the Donetsk in order to stop this armed operation.”
Despite Western sanctions and the withdrawal of Western companies, Mr Putin estimated the Russian economy could grow by up to two per cent this year, in contrast to IMF predictions from April which lowered its 2024 forecast for Russia from 2.1 per cent to 1.3 per cent.
Suggesting Russia had shrugged off the loss of Western businesses, he said Russian entrepreneurs were now “occupying vacated production facilities and sites in shopping centres”.
But in a change of tune, he added: “If foreign manufacturers want to return again, come to our market, and we hear such conversations more and more often, we are not closing the doors to anyone.”
His speech, which lasted more than an hour, made a number of references to the Ukraine conflict. He said Ukraine would soon run out of its own military equipment and be totally reliant on the West.
“Soon Ukraine will stop using its own equipment altogether,” he said. “Nothing remains of it.
“Everything with which they fight and everything that they use is brought in from the outside. You can’t fight for long like that.”
He warned Nato could end up being dragged in to the war, saying Western tanks were “burning”.
Referring to his own military arrangements, he said he could “theoretically” use nuclear weapons. Moscow has already moved some tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus but Mr Putin said Russia has “no such need to use” them.
His comments came after Russia had unleased a massive missile attack on Kyiv, as African leaders began a peace visit in the Ukrainian capital.
Mr Putin said Russia had never rejected any contact from the US over the conflict with Ukraine but there was no line of communication.
“We practically have no contacts, and it wasn’t us that rejected them,” he said.
“If there was a desire to conduct some kind of dialogue with us… they simply transferred this dialogue to the sphere of arms supplies.”
The four-day forum, held annually since 1997, is Russia’s equivalent to the World Economic Forum held in Davos.
Although previously attended by Western investors, Mr Putin has said Russia is now focused on China and other Asian powers.
