Here's an account of Russian thug and war criminal Putin's increasingly desperate threats at an "Eastern Economic Forum:"
“We haven’t lost anything and we won’t lose anything,” said Putin, when asked about the cost of the invasion, which began more than six months ago. “The main gain is the strengthening of our sovereignty. [snip]
The remarks were made at the Russian Eastern Economic Forum, an economic showcase that was a diminished affair this year. Only Myanmar and Armenia sent top politicians to attend the event.
But what it was lacking in grandeur, Putin made up for in bluster, rehashing old tropes about the end of US hegemony and the importance of sovereignty even after he sent troops to Ukraine to occupy territory and unseat the government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy. As in the past, he said Russia was willing to continue the war “until the end”.
The speech came as Putin’s bloody military offensive has stalled in Ukraine and he remains deadlocked with Europe in an energy war that could further impoverish Russia and leave millions abroad in the cold.
In his speech, he portrayed Russia as the victim, saying that western sanctions had “replaced the pandemic” as a threat to the world order. “I am speaking of the west’s sanctions fever, with its brazen, aggressive attempt to impose models of behaviour on other countries, to deprive them of their sovereignty and subordinate them to their will,” he said.
On the threat to stop delivering oil and gas, Putin said: “Will there be any political decisions that contradict the contracts? Yes, we just won’t fulfil them. We will not supply anything at all if it contradicts our interests,” he said, according to a Reuters translation of his remarks. “We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil – we will not supply anything.”
Putin claimed that grain leaving Ukraine was being exported not to poor countries, but instead to the EU. He claimed that only two ships out of 87 had gone to developing countries. Data from the UN showed that Putin’s claim was false by a factor of at least 10. (our emphasis)
This all sounds like a person confident about how his war of aggression and genocide is going, doesn't it?
"Haven't lost anything." Well, to a sociopath like Putin, the loss of tens of thousands of Russian military killed or wounded means nothing.
"Attempt to impose models of behaviour on other countries." Like, for example, not invading other countries and conducting a war of genocide against the civilian population?
His cold, dead eyes tell you all you need to know about this megalomaniacal butcher.
