Russia is coming off the oil needle, Kyiv started the war

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. In his speech, which lasted more than an hour, he stated that despite the economic difficulties of the past year, the strategy chosen then worked.

According to the president, Russia has begun to “fall off the oil and gas needle”, inflation in it is now only 2.9%, GDP has grown by 3.3%, the unemployment rate is at a record low, and the income of the population is growing and stimulating demand. According to Putin, Russia has not turned to the path of self-isolation, but on the contrary, has expanded ties with reliable partners, especially Asian ones.

After the attack on Ukraine, Russia is under severe sanctions from the USA, the European Union, Great Britain, Japan and other countries. Economists also note that Moscow is spending a lot of money on the war, and this year’s budget expenditures will most likely exceed the planned ones.

In addition, experts fear Russia’s growing isolation. In these conditions, the Russian economy is forced to transform under the influence of both external constraints and internal factors, the main of which is the acute demographic crisis.

After the speech, Putin answered journalists’ questions. Most of the questions concerned Russia’s war with Ukraine. Putin said that Ukraine started the war in 2014, and Russia was “forced to respond.”

Putin called the President of Ukraine Zelensky “a disgrace to the Jewish people” (as his Jewish friends allegedly told him) and said that “neo-Nazis have been placed on a pedestal of honor in Ukraine.” Putin did not give details.

After that, those gathered in the hall and viewers of the broadcast were shown a selection of footage about crimes committed on the territory of Ukraine and Poland during the Second World War. Putin stated that he was expecting questions about Nazism in Ukraine and asked to prepare these video materials.

When asked about Russia’s possibility of using nuclear weapons, the president said that it is “theoretically possible if there is a threat to Russia’s territorial integrity and independence.” When asked about the possibility of reducing the nuclear arsenal, he replied: “Fuck them.”

In March, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. According to him, Russia does not transfer nuclear weapons to Belarus, but places its weapons on its territory.

In June, Alexander Lukashenko spoke about a request to Putin to “return” nuclear weapons to Minsk. According to him, “for now” we are talking about tactical weapons, but Belarus is also preparing platforms for deploying strategic missiles. It follows from Lukashenko’s conversation with journalists that he believes that he can make a decision on the use of tactical ammunition located in the country.

Representatives of Western countries have repeatedly called on Russia to exercise restraint and criticized Moscow for its nuclear rhetoric. They emphasize that, supporting Ukraine, they do not aspire to a military clash with Russia. At the same time, representatives of the US intelligence have repeatedly stated that they have not noticed any nuclear weapons prepared by Russia yet.

• Petersburg International Economic Forum opened on June 14. This year’s theme is “Sovereign development is the basis of a just world.” The program includes more than 140 events and more than a thousand speakers, including radical Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, pranksters Vovan and Lexus, designer Artemiy Lebedev, actors Gosha Kutsenko and Vladimir Mashkov.
• The organizers refused to accredit journalists from “unfriendly” countries, none of the invited leaders of “friendly” states came.