Putin’s speech was full of war rhetoric and deep anti-Westernism – snarling at the elite who bought the yacht

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Putins speech was full of war rhetoric and deep anti Westernism

According to Russia researcher Kristiina Silvan, President Putin tried to appease ordinary people who are worried about Russia’s uncertain economic situation.

14:49•Updated 14:55

the president of Russia Vladimir Putin in the state of the nation speech, you could hear populism, strong war rhetoric and appeasement of ordinary people regarding the economic outlook, says research doctor Kristiina Silvan From the Foreign Policy Institute.

  • Read more: Putin: Russia suspends the treaty limiting nuclear weapons – read here the most important points of the long speech

    • Silvan sees Putin’s criticism of the Russian elite as populism, i.e. courting the people. In the speech, Putin scolded the Russian elite, who have taken their wealth to the West and bought yachts and have not invested in Russia’s development – and how they are now suffering from the wrong choice.

    – It might have been a populist message to the common people that Putin is distancing himself from the corrupt oligarchs, but maybe some kind of message to Russian businessmen that it is high time to start supporting the Russian military economy, Silvan reflects.

    The speech was full of war rhetoric and deep anti-Westernism. Putin repeated several times that the West’s goal is Russia’s strategic defeat.

    – Putin stated rhetorically that this is a matter of life and death for Russia, says Silvan.

  • Read more: Analysis: Putin gave a long speech, but said almost nothing

    • According to Silvan, Putin especially tried to appease ordinary people who are worried about Russia’s uncertain economic situation. Putin said in many different ways that the economic outlook is good and consumers need not worry.

    – There was also a surprising amount of talk about investing in teaching and research. I interpret that as some kind of message to those who are worried about the evil Russian brain drain. The highly educated do not necessarily see very good prospects in the labor market for Russia, says Silvan.

    The State of the Nation speech is traditionally aimed at the domestic audience, but now, according to Silvan, there were clear messages for foreign countries as well. An example of this is Putin’s announcement that Russia will freeze the implementation of the START agreement aimed at nuclear disarmament.

    The discussion is open until 11 pm on Wednesday.

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