Putin: Unipolar world order gone forever

Taking the podium at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the era of a unipolar world order has come to an end despite attempts to preserve it at all costs.

“[This era] is over despite all the attempts to revive it and hold on to it at any cost. This is a natural process, these changes are a natural course of history because it is difficult to combine the planet’s civilizational diversity, the wealth of cultures with political, economic and other models. These models don’t work here, the models that bluntly, without any alternatives, are being imposed upon from one center,” the Russian leader added.

US sees itself as messenger of God on Earth without responsibility — Putin

Putin went on to say that the United States sees itself as a “messenger of God on Earth”, who has interests but no responsibility.

“After claiming victory in the Cold War, the United States declared it was the messenger of God on Earth, who has no obligations, but only interests – and these interests are sacrosanct,” Putin said.

“The United States is ostensibly unaware that over the past decades new powerful centers have emerged around the globe and their voice is heard ever louder. Each of them is developing its own political system and public institutions and implements its own model of economic growth and, of course, has the right to protect them and to ensure national sovereignty,” Putin stressed.

In his opinion, “we are witnessing objective processes and truly revolutionary tectonic changes,” in the world.

“It’s a one-sided game. A world based on such dogmas is definitely unstable,” the president affirmed.

Putin urges big business representatives to link their families’ future with Russia

Moreover, the Russian president called on representatives of domestic big business to link their future and the future of their children with Russia.

Putin noted that he has been in contact with many CEOs and company owners for a long time and knows their sentiments. “I have heard from you many times that business is much more than making a profit. It is indeed. And changing the life around, contributing to the development of your hometown, region, country as a whole is an extremely important thing for self-realization. Nothing can replace service to people and society. This is the meaning of life, the genuine meaning of work,” the president pointed out.

“Recent events have only confirmed what I kept saying earlier: it’s safer at home. Those who didn’t want to hear this obvious message lost hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars in the West. This is how the supposedly safe haven for capital turned out,” Putin stressed.

Operation in Ukraine stems from Russia’s right to self-defense — Putin

Putin reaffirmed that Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is a decision by a sovereign country, based on the right to defend its security.

“In the current situation, against a backdrop of soaring risks and threats, Russia’s decision to conduct a special military operation was a forced one. It was very hard to make it, but it was forced and necessary. It was a decision by a sovereign country that has an unconditional right based on the UN Charter to defend its security,” Putin said.

He added that it was also “a decision aimed at protecting our citizens, the residents of the people’s republics of Donbass, who had for eight years been exposed to genocide by the Kiev regime and the neo-Nazis, who enjoyed the full patronage of the West.”

The West “not only sought to implement the ‘anti-Russia’ scenario, but also conducted an active military development of the Ukrainian territory. It literally pumped weapons and military advisers into Ukraine, and it continues to do this now.”

“To be honest, no one pays any attention to the development of the economy, to the well-being of the people living there. They just don’t give a damn about it. In the meantime, they did not spare money on creating a NATO stronghold in the East, directed against Russia and on cultivating aggression, hatred and Russophobia,” Putin stressed.

He pointed out that, in general, the modern world “is going through an era of fundamental changes.”

“International institutions are collapsing and security guarantees are being devalued. The West has emphatically refused to fulfill its earlier obligations. It has turned out to be simply impossible to reach any new agreements with it,” Putin concluded.

Edited by Hamda Mustafa