Putin says he ‘hasn’t just protected Russia’ but brought it ‘back from the edge of the abyss’
During Vladimir Putin’s 4.5-hour end-of-year press conference on Thursday, BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg asked the Russian president whether he has “protected Russia” over the course of his 25-year rule.
“Twenty-five years ago, Boris Yeltsin stepped down, calling on those around him to ‘protect Russia.’ Do you think you’ve protected it?” Rosenberg asked, noting NATO’s expansion and the high casualties Russia has incurred from the full-scale war in Ukraine.
“I haven’t just protected it. I believe we stepped back from the edge of the abyss, because everything that was happening to Russia before and after was effectively leading us toward the complete loss of our sovereignty. And without sovereignty, Russia cannot exist as an independent state,” Putin said.
Putin added that Yeltsin was received favorably by Western leaders as long as he did nothing to threaten their interests. According to Putin, Western leaders would “pat Yeltsin on the shoulder” and “overlook it even when he had a little too much to drink.”
But as soon as he raised his voice in defense of Yugoslavia, as soon as he said it was contrary to international law and the U.N. Charter, as soon as he stated that it was unacceptable in modern Europe to strike Belgrade, the capital of a European state, without UN Security Council approval, they immediately turned on him. They started calling him names, saying he was this and that, a drunkard, and so on.