Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the Western arms deliveries to Ukraine as a “very dangerous step” and criticized Germany in particular. “Delivering weapons to a war zone is always bad,” Putin told journalists in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. “It is even worse when those who supply them not only supply weapons but also control them. This is a very serious and very dangerous step.”
Referring to Germany, Putin said that the appearance of the “first German tanks on Ukrainian soil” had “already caused a moral and ethical shock in Russia” due to the historical burden of World War II. “If they now use missiles to attack facilities on Russian territory, it will completely destroy Russian-German relations,” Putin said.
In response to an offensive launched by Moscow in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, some Western countries, including the US and Germany, recently allowed Ukraine to use weapons they supplied against targets in the Russian border region. Putin had already threatened serious consequences at the end of May if the West gave Ukraine the green light to use its weapons against targets in Russia.
Putin reiterated on Wednesday that Russia did not “start the war in Ukraine.” Instead, he blamed the pro-Western revolution in Ukraine in 2014, which was followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and fighting in eastern Ukraine between Kiev forces and pro-Russian separatists. “Everyone thinks that Russia started the war in Ukraine,” Putin said. “I want to stress that no one in the West, in Europe, wants to remember how this tragedy started.”
Looking ahead to the period after the US presidential election, Putin does not expect a fundamental change in Washington’s policy towards Moscow. “The result is not very important for us,” he said. Russia will work with the president that the US citizens elect. In the past, Putin had said that he would prefer an election victory for incumbent Joe Biden because the president is more predictable.
At the same time, Putin criticized the legal proceedings against former President Donald Trump, who wants to run against Biden in the election on November 5. The judiciary in the USA is being used for political struggle, the Kremlin chief claimed. Trump is being confronted with things that happened a long time ago, which suggests political persecution. Many people understand this and therefore support him.
Putin himself is being criticized internationally for deliberately eliminating political opponents in presidential elections in Russia. Russia’s judicial system is seen as an arbitrary instrument for ensuring that the Kremlin chief maintains his hold on power.