This part, which concerned us directly, was predictable. Threats with nuclear weapons, puffing out his cheeks and waving his fist. It seemed that at some point he would take off his shue and hit the podium with it.
This is now obvious: Putin did not expect the war with Ukraine to drag on for so long. The text of the message even leaked regrets "that the West wants to drag us into an arms race," as it was in the days of the Soviet Union, which spent 13% of GDP on armaments.
But the main goal of the signal remains the same as it was. This is the so-called "strategic stability in the world," which he is ready to discuss with the United States, because "without a sovereign, strong Russia, no world order is possible."
The most surprising thing is that not a single word was mentioned about China and the previously touted cooperation, as if this third pole did not exist. I wonder how Beijing will react to this, since it was excluded from the context?
There were also threats to Europe, "which has forgotten what war is". Like, "we can remind you" that the consequences for the "NATO interventionists" if they enter Ukraine "will be tragic."
And then there was a text about milk yields, education, youth, vodka and other "everyday problems". Clearly, these were election messages that the aging Russian elite applauded incessantly.
The reaction of Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Russian Central Bank, to all these verbal exhausts was particularly revealing. She kept looking doomedly at her feet. Because, obviously, like no one else, she understands perfectly well that it is on her shoulders that the main responsibility falls both for covering the pseudo-historical fantasies and geopolitical realizations of the Kremlin leader and for the "stability of the entire economy of the country." This was in stark contrast to the confidence that the speaker tried to instill in the audience.
In the end, we have to do our own thing. Let's keep at it.
About the author. Viktor Shlinchak, Chairman of the Board of the Institute of World Policy
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.