MOSCOW, March 28 President Vladimir Putin in During a working trip to Torzhok, I talked with military pilots. He called for protecting the unity of the people, commented on statements made in the West about the “Russian threat” and explained in which case there would not have been a special operation in Ukraine.
“Destructive thoughts” The head of state at a meeting with pilots at the 344th State Combat Use Center and retraining of flight personnel, he called for careful consideration of the unity of the Russian people.
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“As soon as we begin to implement these destructive thoughts about the fact that everyone else is strangers here, we will ruin the country, and the main victims will be the Russian people.”
Vladimir Putin
The President admitted that when he hears “jingoistic” slogans that Russia is only for Russians, he gets a feeling of anxiety. He called for taking seriously the issues of preserving interethnic peace in the country.
“You need to treat this component very adultly, seriously, not wave your arms and wag your tongue, but think when you pronounce every word, every phrase — think about the fact that we have one big united Motherland,” Putin said.
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"At the same time, we must never forget that we are a multinational, multi-religious country. We must always treat with respect — and this is what we do — our brothers, representatives of other faiths: Muslims, Jews, everyone,” he noted.
“Nonsense and nonsense” Statements in the West about Russia’s plans to attack Europe after Ukraine are aimed at intimidating its own population, the president said.
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"This is complete nonsense — the possibility of an attack on some other countries, on Poland, the Baltic states, the Czechs are scared. Just nonsense. Another way to deceive your population and extract additional expenses from people, force them to bear this burden on their shoulders, that’s all.” />Vladimir Putin
According to him, the US satellites “are afraid of a big, strong Russia,” although they are doing it in vain. “We have no aggressive intentions towards these states,” Putin emphasized.
Russia is not going to fight with NATO, the difference in military spending is large, the president pointed out. He recalled that in 2022, the United States spent 811 billion dollars on military expenditures, while Russia spent 72 billion.
It was not Russia that moved towards the borders of NATO countries — everything happened the other way around.
«»We didn't touch anyone — they were moving towards us. Have we, perhaps, crossed the ocean to the borders of the United States? No, they are approaching us, and they have come close. And what are we doing? We are just protecting our people in our historical territories.» , said the head of state.
The President also emphasized that Russia, during a special operation in Ukraine, is protecting people in its historical territories; if a security system had been built in Europe after the collapse of the USSR, nothing would have happened.
“They are working perfectly” Putin said that he has no doubt that the armed forces will fulfill their assigned tasks. At the same time, he praised the work of aviation in the special operation zone as excellent.
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"Everyone is working excellently, making a huge contribution to achieving a common victory. <…> The most important thing is that everyone fights fearlessly, making a huge, simply huge contribution to achieving common success.»
Vladimir Putin
According to him, attack aircraft pilots perform very hard work. Putin also noted the work of army and bomber aviation, as well as military transport aviation.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that F-16 fighters, even if Western countries supply them to Ukraine, will not be able to change the situation on the battlefield. The President clarified that if these fighters are launched from the territory of third countries, they will become a legitimate target for the army. In addition, the F-16 will face the same fate as other Western equipment delivered to Kyiv — Russia will destroy them.