Accusing the West of provoking colour revolution in any country for geopolitical gains, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that the West has "plundered" countries like India in contradiction to the values of "truth, freedom, and justice," according to a Reuters translation of Putin's speech.
"The West ... began its colonial policy back in the Middle Ages, and then followed the slave trade, the genocide of Indian tribes in America, the plunder of India, of Africa, the wars of England and France against China ... What they did was hooking entire nations on drugs, deliberately exterminate entire ethnic groups," said Putin in the St George's Hall at a Kremlin ceremony as per Reuters translation.
"For the sake of land and resources, they hunted people like animals. This is contrary to the very nature of man, truth, freedom, and justice," he added as he condemned West for stirring up new conflicts.
Putin said that the West stands ready to provoke revolution in any country. "Following their goals, our geopolitical opponents - our opponents as we called them until quite recently - are prepared to put anyone, any country, in the line of fire; to turn it into the epicenter of a crisis; to provoke a "color revolution" and unleash a bloodbath," as per Reuters translation of Putin's speech which he gave in Russian.
"We have seen all this on more than one occasion. We also know that the West works on scenarios to stir up new conflicts in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) area. But we have enough of them as it is. You need but look at what's happening now between Russia and Ukraine, what's happening on the borders of some other CIS countries," he added.
In an all-out attack on the West, Putin in the ceremony formally announced the annexation of four regions - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia and claimed that "this is the will of millions of people."
He also attacked the West as 'satanic' and hailed 'traditional' Russian values.
"Do we really want in our schools, from the elementary grades, that children were imposed perversions that lead to degradation and extinction? That they were taught that besides a man and a woman there were some other genders and were offered sex-change operations? Do we really want this for our country, for our children?
All this is unacceptable for us, we have our own, different future," he said as he slammed western values, according to a Reuters translation of Putin's speech.
"There are four new regions of Russia," Putin said in a lengthy speech declaring the annexation of Ukrainian territories in the St George's Hall at a Kremlin ceremony. The speech was filled with highly critical rhetoric about Ukraine and its Western allies, reported Al Jazeera.
Putin said the residents in the four annexed regions will now be Russia's "citizens forever".
While denying seeking revival of the Soviet Union by the said annexation, Putin accused Western states - which have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Moreover, in a strong statement, Putin also added that Russia would now defend its new territory "with all the means at its disposal."
Defending its decision to go ahead with the referendum and announce the annexation of the region, the Russian President argued it was the "integral right" of people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia to join Russia, reported Al Jazeera.
Speaking further, Putin claimed that the people in eastern Ukraine made up of Donetsk and Luhansk - had been "victims of inhumane terrorist attacks conducted by the Kyiv regime".
He also called the result of the referendum "the will of millions of people."
In a major move by Russia, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the so-called "independence" of the Ukrainian regions Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Moreover, the UN Security Council is set to vote Friday on a resolution that would seek to condemn Russia for its referenda in four regions under Russian control but claimed by Ukraine, media reports said.
The US-sponsored resolution would call on all countries not to recognise the change in the status of the four regions, CNN reported. The resolution, which is also backed by Albania, would reaffirm the UN commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any annexation of a state's territory by another state resulting from a "threat or use of force" is a violation of the UN charter and international law.
Moreover, the US has slapped new sanctions on Russia after Moscow declared the independence of the seized Ukrainian territories and separatist regions.
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