MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Friday of endangering the international order by trying to “remake the whole world” for its own, exclusive interests, and he predicted that Ukraine would not be the last conflict to embroil the major powers.
Putin charged that the United States has escalated world conflicts by “unilateral diktat” and by imposing sanctions that he said were aimed at pushing Russia toward “economic weakness,” while he denied that Russia aspires to rebuild an empire or reclaim its Cold War-era stature as a superpower.
“We did not start this,” Putin said of the worsening world climate. “These policies started a few years ago; it hasn’t just started today because of sanctions.”
The Russian president’s comments, among the most incendiary he has ever directed against the United States, were made during a speech before the Valdai Club, an annual gathering of international analysts and scholars held this year in the southern Russian city of Sochi, where Russia staged the Winter Olympic Games earlier this year.
Since then, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine have driven relations between Moscow and Washington to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War.
Putin said the United States had adopted a Cold War victor’s mindset that was clouding its view of the world, leading to “serious delusions” about what changes are needed in the international system.
“It never ceases to amaze me how our partners have been guilty of making the same mistakes time and again,” Putin said. He said past U.S. support for Islamist extremists had helped to create the current crises in Iraq and Syria, and he charged that U.S. backing for revolutions in former Soviet states now contending with chaos – such as Ukraine – were tantamount to “letting the genie out of the bottle.”
He also blamed the United States for what he said was a weakened system of global arms control.
When questioned after the speech, Putin denied that Russia was afraid of the United States or that he considered it in any way a direct threat to Russia. But repeatedly, Putin’s comments about the United States came back to one theme: respect.
“We need a new global consensus,” Putin said. “Russia does not demand an exclusive role in the world — we do respect the interests of others, but we would like our interests and opinions to be respected likewise.”
