During a bellicose speech at an economic conference in Vladivostok, Putin said he would talk to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about “restricting grain export destinations”, falsely claiming that only two of the 87 ships leaving Ukraine with grain had gone to developing countries. The divisive remarks came during a speech in which Putin also threatened to cut off all gas, oil and coal deliveries to Europe if they imposed a price cap on Russian energy imports. Recalling a Russian fairy tale, he said Europeans could “freeze like a wolf’s tail”. The speech, nominally devoted to the economy and trade, was one of the most bellicose and provocative by the Russian leader since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. At one point, Putin declared that Russia had “nothing to lose” by starting a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, including thousands of its own soldiers. “We haven’t lost anything and we won’t lose anything,” Putin said when asked about the cost of the invasion, which began more than six months ago. “The main gain is the strengthening of our sovereignty. “Of course, a certain polarization is taking place,” he continued, speaking of Russia’s isolation, “both in the world and within the country, but I think that will only be beneficial. “No matter how much one would like to isolate Russia, it is impossible to do so,” he added, arguing that Russia would turn to Asia as its ties to Europe were severed. The remarks were made at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum, a financial showcase that has been a scaled-down affair this year. Only Myanmar and Armenia sent top politicians to attend the event. But what he lacked in grandeur, Putin made up for, repeating old platitudes about the end of US hegemony and the importance of sovereignty, even after sending troops into Ukraine to seize territory and topple Volodymyr’s government Zelensky. As in the past, he said Russia was willing to continue the war “until the end.” The speech came as Putin’s bloody military offensive has stalled in Ukraine and remains deadlocked with Europe in an energy war that could further impoverish Russia and leave millions abroad. In his speech, he cast Russia as a victim, saying Western sanctions had “replaced the pandemic” as a threat to the world order. “I am talking about the West’s fever of sanctions, with its brazen, aggressive attempt to impose models of behavior on other countries, to deprive them of their sovereignty and to bend them to their will,” he said. Regarding the threat to stop the delivery of oil and gas, Putin said: “Will there be political decisions that contradict the contracts? Yes, we just won’t fulfill them. We will provide absolutely nothing if it goes against our interests,” he said, according to a translation of his remarks by Reuters. “We will not supply natural gas, oil, coal, heating oil – we will not supply anything.” Putin claimed that grain leaving Ukraine was not exported to poor countries, but to the EU. He claimed that only two ships out of 87 had gone to developing countries. Data from the UN showed that Putin’s claim was false by at least 10 times. However, Putin said he would consider renegotiating the deal with Erdogan, potentially putting the deal in jeopardy. “We should probably think about limiting the destinations for grain exports, and I am going to discuss this with Mr. Erdogan, the president of Turkey, because it was he and I who came up with this plan,” Putin said. In the speech, Putin also spoke in favor of a stiff 22-year prison sentence handed down to former journalist Ivan Safronov, who was convicted of treason in a court case tried on secret evidence. Asked about the hundreds of journalists forced to flee the country because of draconian new laws against criticism of the war and free speech, Putin said they were traitors. “I assure you, they are happy to be able to leave,” he told reporters. “They have always worked against our country, but now under the pretext of some kind of threats here, they happily left for the same wages they were earning here.” Many of the journalists expressed their distaste for the remarks. “Yes, getting on the wanted list is what I always dreamed of,” wrote Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist who has lived abroad since the war began.
