Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly - December 3, 2015
Vladimir
Putin delivered the Annual Presidential Address to the Federal
Assembly. The Address was traditionally delivered at the Kremlin’s St
George Hall before an audience of more than 1,000 people.
Transcript:
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens
of Russia, members of the Federation Council, State Duma
deputies,
I would like to begin my Address with
words of gratitude to the Russian servicemen who are fighting
international terrorism.
Today here in the St George’s Hall,
a historic hall of Russian military glory, we have combat pilots
and representatives of the Armed Forces who are taking part
in the anti-terrorist operation in Syria.
Gelena Peshkova and Irina Pozynich, who lost
their husbands in the war against terror, have joined us too.
My deepest respect to you and the parents of our
heroes.
I would like us all to honour
the memory of the soldiers who gave their lives while doing their duty,
and the memory of all Russian citizens who fell
at the hands of terrorists.
(Moment of silence)
Colleagues,
Russia has long been at the forefront
of the fight against terrorism. This is a fight for freedom,
truth and justice, for the lives of people
and the future of the entire civilisation.
We know what aggression of international
terrorism is. Russia faced it back in the mid-1990s, when our
country, our civilian population suffered from cruel attacks. We will never
forget the hostage crises in Budennovsk, Beslan and Moscow,
the merciless explosions in residential buildings, the Nevsky
Express train derailment, the blasts in the Moscow metro
and Domodedovo Airport.
These tragedies took thousands of lives. We still
grieve for them and will always grieve, along with the victims’
loved ones.
It took us nearly a decade to finally break
the backbone of those militants. We almost succeeded
in expelling terrorists from Russia, but are still fighting
the remaining terrorist underground. This evil is still out there. Two
years ago, two attacks were committed in Volgograd. A civilian
Russian plane was recently blown up over Sinai.
International terrorism will
never be defeated by just one country, especially in a situation
when the borders are practically open, and the world is going
through another resettlement of peoples, while terrorists are getting
regular financial support.
Terrorism
is a growing threat today.
The Afghanistan problem has not been resolved. The situation there is
alarming and gives us no optimism, while some of the yet recently stable
and rather well-doing countries in the Middle East and North
Africa – Iraq, Libya and Syria – have now plunged into chaos
and anarchy that pose a threat to the whole world.
We all know why that happened. We know who decided
to oust the unwanted regimes and brutally impose their own
rules. Where has this led them? They stirred up trouble, destroyed
the countries’ statehood, set people against each other, and then
“washed their hands”, as we say in Russia, thus opening the way
to radical activists, extremists and terrorists.
The militants in Syria pose
a particularly high threat for Russia. Many of them are citizens
of Russia and the CIS countries. They get money and weapons and build up their strength.
If they get sufficiently strong to win there, they will return
to their home countries to sow fear and hatred, to blow up,
kill and torture people. We must fight and eliminate them there, away
from home.
This is why it has been decided to launch a military operation
there based on an official request from the legitimate Syrian
authorities. Our military personnel are fighting in Syria for Russia,
for the security of Russian citizens.
The Russian Army and Navy have convincingly
demonstrated their combat readiness
and their increased capabilities. Modern Russian weapons have proved
to be effective, and the invaluable practice of using them
in combat conditions is being analysed and will be used
to further improve our weapons and military equipment. We are
grateful to our engineers, workers and all other personnel
of our defence companies.
Russia has demonstrated immense responsibility
and leadership in the fight against terrorism. Russian people
have supported these resolute actions. The firm stance taken by our
people stems from a thorough understanding of the absolute
danger of terrorism, from
patriotism, high moral qualities and their firm belief that we must defend
our national interests, history, traditions and values.
The international community should have learned
from the past lessons. The historical parallels in this case are
undeniable.
Unwillingness to join forces against Nazism
in the 20th century cost us millions of lives
in the bloodiest world war in human history.
Today we have again come face to face with
a destructive and barbarous ideology, and we must not allow
these modern-day dark forces to attain their goals.
We must stop our debates and forget our
differences to build a common anti-terrorist front that will act
in line with international law and under the UN aegis.
Every civilised country must contribute
to the fight against terrorism, reaffirming their solidarity, not
in word but in deed.
This means that the terrorists must not be given
refuge anywhere. There must be no double standards. No contacts with terrorist
organisations. No attempts to use them for self-seeking goals. No
criminal business with terrorists.
We know who are stuffing pockets in Turkey
and letting terrorists prosper from the sale of oil they stole
in Syria. The terrorists are using these receipts to recruit
mercenaries, buy weapons and plan inhuman terrorist attacks against
Russian citizens and against people in France, Lebanon, Mali
and other states. We remember that the militants who operated
in the North Caucasus in the 1990s and 2000s found
refuge and received moral and material assistance in Turkey. We still find them there.
Meanwhile,
the Turkish people are kind, hardworking and talented. We have many
good and reliable friends in Turkey. Allow me to emphasise that they
should know that we do not equate them with the certain part of the current ruling establishment that is directly responsible
for the deaths of our servicemen in Syria.
We will
never forget their collusion with terrorists. We have always deemed betrayal
the worst and most shameful thing to do, and that will
never change. I would like them to remember this – those
in Turkey who shot our pilots in the back, those hypocrites who
tried to justify their actions and cover up for terrorists.
I don’t
even understand why they did it. Any issues they might have had, any problems,
any disagreements even those we knew nothing about could have been settled
in a different way. Plus, we were ready to cooperate with Turkey
on all the most sensitive issues it had; we were willing to go
further, where its allies refused to go. Allah only knows, I suppose,
why they did it. And probably, Allah has decided to punish
the ruling clique in Turkey by taking their mind and reason.
But, if
they expected a nervous or hysterical reaction from us, if they
wanted to see us become a danger to ourselves as much
as to the world, they won’t get it. They won’t get any response
meant for show or even for immediate political gain. They won’t
get it.
Our
actions will always be guided primarily by responsibility –
to ourselves, to our country, to our people. We are not going
to rattle the sabre. But, if someone thinks they can commit a heinous
war crime, kill our people and get away with it, suffering nothing but
a ban on tomato imports, or a few restrictions
in construction or other industries, they’re delusional. We’ll remind
them of what they did, more than once. They’ll regret it. We know what
to do.
We have
mobilised our Armed Forces, security services and law enforcement agencies
to repel the terrorist threat. Everyone must be aware of their
responsibility, including the authorities, political parties, civil
society organisations and the media.
Russia’s
strength lies in the free development of all its peoples, its
diversity, the harmony of cultures, languages and traditions,
mutual respect for and dialogue between all faiths, including
Christians, Muslims, Judaists and Buddhists.
We must
firmly resist any manifestation of extremism and xenophobia while
defending our ethnic and religious accord, which is the historical
foundation of our society and the Russian statehood.
In 2016 we
will hold elections to the State Duma. I would like to remind
party leaders, all participants of the upcoming election campaign
and all the social and political forces about the following
words of our famous historian, Nikolai Karamzin: “Those who have no
respect for themselves cannot hope to be respected by others.
That does not mean that love for our homeland must blind us into saying
that we are better than all others in everything we do. But Russians must
know their value.”
Yes, we
can debate ways to solve this or that issue. But we must remain united
and remember what is most important for us: Russia. [...]
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