Vladimir Putin has been seen furious with a BBC editor for the second year in a row, this time mocking the shrinking British economy and claiming he has “pulled Russia back from the abyss”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg at his annual end-of-year conference, Putin said his country’s economy was “far ahead of Britain’s.”
Rosenberg asked the despot, referring to Boris Yeltsin, former president of Russia from 1991 to 1999: “Exactly 25 years ago, Boris Yeltsin resigned, handed over power to him and told him to take care of Russia.” Some 25 years later, do you think you’ve taken care of Russia?
‘Because looking inward, what do we see? We see substantial losses in the so-called “special military operation” that you declared.
‘We see Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. You criticize the expansion of NATO, but now there are more NATO on Russia’s borders: Sweden and Finland.
‘Sanctions, high inflation, demographic problems. Do you think you have taken care of your country?
Putin responded: “Yes, and I think not only have I dealt with that, I think we have moved back from the brink because with everything that was happening to Russia before, we were heading towards a complete, total loss of our sovereignty.
‘Without sovereignty, Russia cannot exist as an independent state. Let me draw your attention to what you said about Boris Yeltsin.
Vladimir Putin was seen furious with a BBC editor (pictured) for the second year in a row.
Putin (pictured) claimed his country’s economy was “far ahead of Britain’s”.
“I think we have moved away from the edge of the abyss,” Putin said
‘(West) patted him condescendingly on the shoulder. They turned a blind eye when he drank. He was welcomed in all Western circles.
Referring to Yeltstin’s criticism of NATO’s attacks on Yugoslavia in the 1990s amid the Kosovo conflict, Putin added: “The moment he raised his voice in support of Yugoslavia, the moment he said that contradicted international law and the United Nations Charter, as soon as he said that it was unacceptable in modern Europe to attack Belgrade, a European capital, without the sanction of the UN Security Council, they immediately began to attack him, insulting him, saying that he was a drunk, etc.
‘Don’t you remember that? I have done everything possible so that Russia can be an independent sovereign state, capable of making decisions for its own interests, not for the interests of the countries that dragged it towards them, patting you on the shoulder so that they use you for their own interests. . purposes.
‘I could stop there. I know you’ve said a number of things that seem to reinforce your arguments. You said about inflation: yes, there is inflation, we are going to fight it.
‘But we have economic growth. We rank fourth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).
‘Please tell your readers. First place in Europe, far ahead of Great Britain. I don’t think Britain is even in the top five.
‘We are prepared to work with Britain if Britain wants to work with us.
“But if that doesn’t happen, we will do without our former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.”
‘How does all this relate to your actions over the past two and a half years? The invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine: where is justice, stability and security? Rosenberg asked.
Rosenberg calmly told Putin that his brutal war in Ukraine completely contravened the principles underpinning the BRICS: justice, regional stability and security, and a just world.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia’s gross PPP makes it the fourth largest in the world, while Britain ranks tenth.
But when ranked per capita, Britain has the world’s 28th largest economy, while Russia is far behind at 43rd, according to IMF and World Bank estimates.
Putin’s response this year contrasts sharply with the more aggressive tone he adopted last year, in which he criticized the West’s “perverse methods” to maintain global control, accusing Western powers of stifling the growth of emerging economies. manipulating stock markets and ‘aggravating old disagreements’
‘Is it fair that for years our (Western) partners have ignored our constant calls not to expand NATO to the East? Lie to our faces and violate all your obligations… to enter Ukraine and build military bases? he frowned.
He went on to accuse the United States of orchestrating and financing a coup in Ukraine in 2014, a central theme in the Kremlin’s narrative that opposes the White House’s version that the 2014 annexation of Crimea and subsequent invasion of Ukraine were due exclusively to Russian aggression. .
As the conference came to a close, Rosenberg asked a second question, referring to claims by Britain’s MI5 that Russian agents were “creating chaos” on the streets of Britain.
This seemed to be the last straw for Putin, who laughed audibly, thanked Rosenberg for the question and immediately dismissed it as “absolute rubbish.”