“The era of the unipolar world order is over” president Vladimir Putin said during his speech at the Saint Petersburg international economic forum on June 17, while accusing the US of treating other nations like “their own backyard.” The Russian leader took the opportunity to speak on the balance of power he foresees, the performance of the economic sanctions, and Ukraine’s European Union integration.
Throughout the course of his speech, Putin wasted no time to slam the West. He made his points clear and loud. The president mentioned the Cold War and his perspective towards the US governments’ conducts subsequent to the end of the war by stating, “The US declared victory in the Cold War and later came to think of themselves as God’s own messengers on planet earth who have no duties, only interests, and the latter are declared as sacred sanct (holy).”
President Putin accused the US and the ruling elite of some Western countries of undermining the growth of other nations, and how they shouldn’t think the world will continue to progress for the benefit of the Western governments because “every center is developing its own political systems. Social institutions implement their own economic growth models, and certainly they have the right to protect them and to ensure their national sovereignty.”
The Russian leader believes the US and other Western leaders are living with the illusion that their political and economic global dominance is a constant, “but nothing is peremptory, nothing is eternal.” He later commented on the historical ability of the West to destabilize other nations such as Syria, Yugoslavia, and Iraq, when they refused to succumb to Western domination and related these events to the current sanctions placed on Russia due to the war in Ukraine
According to President Putin, the “reckless and insane” sanctions were unsuccessful and will not work because of the measures the country has taken so far to counter the economically crippling policies from the West. He admired how “Russian enterprises and the government authorities worked in a composed and professional manner. The citizens stand united as they assume responsibility.”
The European Union’s policies towards Russia have evidently affected member countries’ economies. Gas prices have risen and inflation is increasing. The Russian leader referred to the EU’s participation in the sanctions as “a double-edged sword.”
He spoke on Ukraine briefly and mentioned his opposition towards NATO integration, but the possible membership of Ukraine in the EU is not a concern of the Russian government.