President Vladimir Putin promised on Sunday to make Russia a “sovereign power” during a speech to the ruling party, his first campaign speech ahead of the presidential election in March 2024.
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“Russia will be a sovereign and self-sufficient power, otherwise it will no longer exist at all,” Mr. Putin declared before senior officials of the United Russia party gathered at a congress to support his candidacy.
“Russia cannot, like some countries, give up its sovereignty in exchange for a few sausages and become someone’s satellite,” he said, in an apparent reference to Ukraine.
Accusing the West of seeking to “collapse the Russian economy and social sphere”, he called on the country’s “patriotic forces” to combine their efforts in the face of the “historical tasks” that await Moscow.
“Together with all the Russian people, let us defend the sovereignty, freedom, security of Russia, everything that is dear to us, our history, our culture, our values and our traditions,” declared Mr. Putin.
AFP
Vladimir Putin, whose country is targeted by a series of Western sanctions and who sent his soldiers to attack Ukraine in 2022, announced last week his intention to run for a fifth time in the March 2024 presidential election. mandate.
His re-election is in little doubt, any real opposition having been methodically eradicated in Russia in recent years.
The head of United Russia, former President Dmitry Medvedev, assured him on Sunday that his party “will do everything” to support Vladimir Putin’s candidacy.
He welcomed the fact that Russia was “able to withstand colossal pressure” from the West. “The response to the actions of our adversaries has been the resilience and unity of Russian society,” he said.
According to the former president, a victory for Vladimir Putin in March 2024 will allow him to “finally gain the upper hand over the forces that threaten the security and sovereignty” of the country.