Eyeing Najib rebuttal Tun M

 Tun Mahathir kata saya "idiot" sebab saya kata kerajaan PH dan PN tidak pernah membayar balik satu sen prinsipal hutang 1MDB sejak PRU14.

Okay. Biarkan saya jelaskan.

Pada PRU14, baki hutang 1MDB  adalah:

1. Sukuk RM5b

2. Bon US$3.5b (RM14.7b) - dijamin IPIC

3. Bon US$3b (RM12.5b)

RM5b + RM14.7b + RM12.5b = RM32.3b

Ini turut disahkan oleh Jawatankuasa parlimen pada tahun 2019.

"RM32.2 bilion hutang bersih 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)" https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/38270/BERITA/Nasional/Jawatankuasa-Pilihan-Khas-Bajet-sahkan-hutang-negara-RM11-trilion

Ianya masih RM32b setakat akhir bulan Jun 2021:

"Okt 2021: Hutang terkumpul 1MDB RM32 bilion setakat akhir Jun 2021"

https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2021/10/881690/hutang-terkumpul-1mdb-rm32-bilion-setakat-akhir-jun-2021

Jadi, Tun boleh beritahu saya sukuk atau bon mana yang telah dilangsaikan sepanjang tempoh PH dan PN memerintah?

Selain hutang, saya turut perjelaskan lagi banyak perkara berhubung 1MDB semasa saya berucap dalam dewan.

Tapi Tun hanya dengar hutang sahaja.

Yang lain seperti penyelesaian perjanjian IPP berat sebelah oleh 1MDB yang menguntungkan negara sebanyak RM50b dan turut menyumbang kepada kenaikan rizab tunai Petronas dari RM30b ke RM176b pada masa PRU14, Tun tak komen walaupun inilah projek-projek kroni ketinggalan PM4?

Pembatalan perjanjian penyelesaian dengan IPIC milik kerajaan Abu Dhabi di mana IPIC sepatutnya membayar balik sehingga US$6.5b sebelum 30 Dec 2020, Tun tak mahu koimen sedangkan kerajaan PH yang batalkannya?

Projek TRX bernilai RM40 bilion, Tun juga tak komen walaupun menteri kewayangan Tun sebut ini adalah antara aset terpenting negara?

Pembinaan dan kenaikan taraf 8 pangkalan anggota keselamatan oleh 1MDB termasuk pembinaan pangkalan udara Sendayan yang merupakan pangkalan terbesar negara, Tun M tak komen?

Projek Bandar Malaysia bernilai RM140 bilion milik 1MDB, Tun tak mahu komen walaupun Tun pernah sebut ini adalah antara projek paling strategik negara, Tun tak mahu komen?

Siapa idiot sebenarnya?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=520206346136975&id=100044428416531&sfnsn=mo

Eyeing Najib's speech in Parliament

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Assalammualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Salam Sejahtera

Alhamdulillah syukur ke hadrat Ilahi kerana atas limpah kurnia-Nya saya dapat berpeluang sekali lagi berdiri di dewan yang mulia ini. Kali ini melafazkan ucapan menjunjung kasih dan menyokong di atas titah ucapan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong merasmikan sidang Parlimen Keempat Belas Penggal Kelima.


Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Sebelum saya meneruskan perbahasan ini saya ingin mengajak semua ahli-ahli dewan mendoakan keadaan banjir di negeri-negeri Pantai Timur segera pulih. Begitu juga semoga semua mangsa terlibat tabah menghadapi ujian ini. Insya Allah saya yakin semua pihak berkaitan akan sentiasa membantu memastikan kebajikan dan bantuan untuk mangsa banjir dapat disalurkan secepat mungkin.

Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Izinkan saya menyentuh mengenai keadaan kewangan negara. Minggu lepas, YB Pagoh telah mengugut untuk membongkarkan mengenai keadaan kewangan negara. Tapi, sehingga kini nampaknya belum ada apa-apa perkembangan. Tak apa, biarlah saya perjelaskan.

Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Akibat pemansuhan Cukai Perkhidmatan dan Barangan (GST) yang dilakukan semata-mata sebagai langkah populis, aset-aset negara yang selama ini memberi pulangan yang baik tetapi dijual serta prestasi ekonomi yang lembab di bawah Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan (PH) dan Perikatan Nasional (PN) selepas PRU14, defisit tahunan kerajaan yang turun 8 tahun berturut-turut semasa Kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) dahulu telah naik semula.

Akibatnya hutang langsung negara telah naik lebih 46% atau kenaikan sekitar RM320 bilion dari RM687 bilion pada tahun 2017 ke lebih RM1.03 trilion hari ini.

Nisbah hutang kerajaan kepada Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK) juga naik dari 48.7% ke lebih 63% hari ini – iaitu jauh melebihi had nisbah hutang 55% yang ditetapkan semasa kerajaan BN.

Bukan sahaja rizab tunai Petronas sebanyak RM176 bilion yang ditinggalkan kerajaan BN pada masa PRU14 telah dijarah, tetapi tabung KWAP, KWAN dan Khazanah turut mengalami nasib yang sama dikorek Kerajaan PH dan PN.

Sedangkan, sepanjang tempoh KWAP ditubuhkan dan beroperasi, satu sen pun tidak pernah diambil dari tabung ini pada era BN. Hakikatnya, nilai aset tabung KWAP naik dari RM55 bilion pada tahun 2008 ke RM140 bilion pada akhir tahun 2017.

Malangnya bermula tahun 2018 di mana RM4.5 bilion dikeluarkan oleh Kerajaan PH, sebanyak RM19.5 bilion telah dikeluarkan dari KWAP setakat ini berbanding dengan sifar yakni kita tidak pernah sentuh sama sekali pada zaman BN, sebaliknya bertambah peruntukannya setiap tahun.

Begitu juga dengan tabung KWAN di mana nilai tabung naik dari RM4 bilion pada tahun 2008 ke RM17 bilion pada akhir tahun 2017, sebanyak RM15 bilion juga telah dikorek keluar oleh kerajaan PN.
Nilai aset Khazanah Nasional yang naik berganda dari RM33 bilion ke RM116 bilion dalam tempoh 9 tahun sebelum PRU14 juga telah menurun kepada RM82 bilion pada akhir tahun 2020 setelah aset bernilai berpuluh bilion Ringgit yang sepatutnya memberi pulangan yang baik, telah dijual oleh Kerajaan PH. Ianya jelas bahawa nilai-nilai rizab dan tabung simpanan kerajaan ketika ini sudah jauh lebih rendah berbanding sebelum PRU14.

Akibatnya penarafan kredit Malaysia yang diberi oleh syarikat Fitch telah diturun taraf dari gred A ke gred B pada tahun 2020 - buat kali pertama dalam sejarah Malaysia kehilangan gred A.

Kesimpulannya, bukan sahaja rizab Petronas, Khazanah, KWAP dan KWAN dikorek atau dijarah tetapi hutang kerajaan juga melonjak naik sebanyak RM320 bilion iaitu kenaikan lebih 46% sejak PRU14.

Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Negara berdepan dengan keadaan yang cukup mencabar untuk memulihkan semula tabung-tabung dan rizab negara setelah kerosakan sangat teruk ditinggalkan oleh Kerajaan PH dan PN terdahulu.

YB Pagoh bukan tidak tahu keadaan kewangan negara sedangkan beliau pernah menjawat jawatan Menteri Kanan dalam PH dan kemudiannya menjadi Perdana Menteri dalam Kerajaan PN. Sebenarnya selepas PRU14, Pagoh berada dalam dua kerajaan yang merosakkan kewangan negara.

Beliau juga pernah mengaku berbelanja RM600 bilion untuk menunjukkan keprihatinannya semasa menjadi PM sehinggakan mengaku kerajaan tidak mempunyai dana lagi.

Dari mana dia dapat dana sebanyak RM600 bilion ini jika bukan dari rizab RM2 trilion pada masa BN dahulu? Ataupun dengan menambah hutang negara?

Setakat hendak membelanjakan duit, semua orang boleh buat. YB Kota Raja boleh buat, Parit Buntar dan Pokok Sena pun boleh. Hanya tahu berbelanja tetapi gagal dalam menambahkan hasil negara.


Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Dalam dewan yang mulia ini, janganlah kita memberikan alasan hutang 1MDB sebagai merosakkan kewangan negara.

Hakikatnya, satu sen pun prinsipal hutang 1MDB tidak pernah dibayar. Pada 2018 hutang 1MDB berjumlah RM32 bilion.

Pada 2019 hutang RM32 bilion.
Pada 2020 hutang RM32 bilion.
Pada 2021 hutang RM32 bilion.

Adalah tidak betul untuk mencanangkan bahawa rakyat perlu membayar atau menanggung hutang 1MDB. Misalnya, bayaran sebanyak RM16.4 bilion yang diterima dari Goldman Sachs bukanlah dari wang rakyat. Itu wang Goldman Sachs yang boleh digunakan untuk membayar hutang 1MDB.

Begitu juga dana-dana lain yang diterima dari :
• DOJ RM3 bilion,
• Ambank RM2.83 bilion,
• KPMG RM340 juta,
• Deloittes RM324 juta.
Kesemua ini yang berjumlah hampir RM23 bilion, bukanlah wang rakyat. Sepatutnya wang ini boleh digunakan untuk membayar hutang 1MDB.


Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Ini tidak termasuk aset-aset 1MDB. Penjimatan daripada penyelesaian perjanjian berat sebelah Penjana Elektrik Bebas (IPP) peninggalan zaman Perdana Menteri ke-4 yang diselesaikan dengan bantuan 1MDB dengan mengambil alih IPP. Ini telah menjimatkan sebanyak RM50 bilion. Penjimatan inilah antara sebab rizab tunai Petronas naik daripada RM30 bilion kepada RM176 bilion pada 2018, sebelum dijarah licin oleh Kerajaan PH dan PN.

Bandar Malaysia bernilai RM140 bilion yang dinilai sebagai aset terbaik Malaysia. YB Bagan semasa menjadi Menteri Kewangan pernah menyifatkan projek TRX sebagai antara aset terbaik negara dan YB Langkawi semasa dia melancarkan semula Bandar Malaysia menyifatkannya sebagai projek paling strategik.


Tan Sri Yang Dipertua, 

Saya percaya ketika saya bangun membahaskan titah ucapan Yang Dipertuan Agong, pasti ada komen-komen di media sosial yang mahu saya membangkitkan soal I-citra. Ini adalah kali keempat saya mendesak kerajaan memenuhi permintaan rakyat untuk pengeluaran kali terakhir. Sekarang ini saya lebih optimis sebab seorang ahli dewan sebelum ini yang pernah menggelarkan usaha saya membangkitkan soal pengeluaran I-citra ini seumpama meminang Puteri Gunung Ledang, kini sudah menyokong. Menteri-menteri dan pemimpin PN pun sudah u-turn dan menyokong. Jadi, kepada Menteri Kewangan, saya merayu supaya permintaan UMNO berhubung perkara ini dan kini disokong oleh parti lain dalam Kerajaan, dipenuhi. Siapa hendak claim kredit tak kisah lah… Asalkan permintaan pengeluaran kali terakhir ini, yang sangat diharapkan oleh rakyat dapat dipenuhi kerajaan dengan segera.

Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Semasa dan sepanjang Kerajaan BN memerintah, visi utama Tabung Haji ada dua iaitu pertama, pengurusan haji terbilang dan kedua, tonggak kejayaan ekonomi ummah. Selari dengan visi-visi ini, hibah tabung haji biasanya lebih tinggi berbanding dividen KWSP. Namun, ini sudah bertukar selepas PRU14 apabila Kerajaan PH menyatakan bahawa Tabung Haji tidak perlu berniaga ataupun melabur dalam pasaran ekuiti. Sebaliknya Tabung Haji hanya akan menyimpan ke dalam Pelaburan Simpanan Tetap (Fixed Income Asset).

Ianya benar bahawa melabur ke dalam Fixed Income Asset adalah lebih selamat dan lebih berisiko rendah tetapi kadar pulangan yang diperolehi juga terhad dan biasanya adalah pada kadar faedah bon kerajaan. Bon kerajaan pada masa kini hanya membayar faedah pada kadar 3.5 hingga 3.7 peratus setahun. Sekiranya, keseluruhan pelaburan Tabung Haji hanya antara 3.5 hingga 3.7 peratus maka selepas menolak kos subsidi haji dan kos pengurusan, hibah Tabung Haji yang mampu dibayar pada setiap tahun hanyalah sekitar 3 hingga 3.2 peratus.

Sekiranya visi dan misi Tabung Haji masih untuk memperkasakan ekonomi ummah dan memacu kejayaan ummah maka Tabung Haji perlu mengembalikan strategi pelaburan mereka dan fokus kembali kepada pelaburan ekuiti dan projek pembangunan hartanah.


Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Saya juga ingin membangkitkan perkara berkaitan dengan High Speed Rail (HSR), pelebaran Lebuhraya Utara Selatan dari Yong Peng ke Johor Bahru iaitu pertambahan dari 2 lorong kepada 4 lorong, Rapid Transit System (RTS) dan Electric Train Service (ETS), Perumahan Generasi Kedua FELDA dan Perumahan Rakyat.

Antara projek-projek infrastruktur penting diusahakan kerajaan BN dahulu yang sudah tentu akan memberi impak besar kepada pembangunan Negeri Johor serta keselesaan hidup warga Johor tetapi telah mengalami penangguhan selepas PRU14, adalah :

RTS Singapura-Johor Baharu yang bakal menyelesaikan kesesakan tambak Johor. Ia sepatutnya beroperasi pada Disember 2024, tetapi kini tertangguh kepada Disember 2026.

Perkhidmatan keretapi ETS dari Johor Baharu ke Kuala Lumpur dan terus ke Padang Besar, Perlis dan seterusnya ke Hatyai, Thailand. Projek ini sepatutnya telah siap pada Oktober 2020, tetapi kini tertangguh ke tahun 2023.

HSR Singapura ke Kuala Lumpur yang hanya mengambil masa 90 minit dan dijadualkan siap pada tahun 2026. Bagaimanapun, projek itu kini tak tahu bila lagi sebab asyik tangguh, tangguh, batal dan disambungkan.

Justeru, Kerajaan diseru tidak lagi melewatkan atau membatalkan projek ini khususnya di Johor.

Pelebaran Lebuhraya PLUS antara Yong Peng ke Johor Bahru yang ketika ini hanya 2 lorong sehala kepada 4 lorong sehala, boleh menyelesaikan kesesakan trafik. Ini merupakan antara janji manifesto BN pada PRU14 tetapi tidak kesampaian untuk dilaksanakan.

Usaha kerajaan bagi pembinaan Perumahan Generasi kedua FELDA serta perumahan awam seluruh negara perlu diperbanyakkan dengan konsep sewa beli pada harga mampu milik.

Tan Sri Yang Dipertua,

Saya mohon menyokong. 

Eyeing Putin's statement

 READ: Russian President Vladimir Putin's full speech 

Citizens of Russia, friends, 

I consider it necessary today to speak again about the tragic events in Donbas and the key aspects of ensuring the security of Russia. 

I will begin with what I said in my address on February 21, 2022. I spoke about our biggest concerns and worries, and about the fundamental threats which irresponsible Western politicians created for Russia consistently, rudely, and unceremoniously from year to year. I am referring to the eastward expansion of NATO, which is moving its military infrastructure ever closer to the Russian border. 

It is a fact that over the past 30 years we have been patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries regarding the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we invariably faced either cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail, while the North Atlantic alliance continued to expand despite our protests and concerns. Its military machine is moving and, as I said, is approaching our very border. 

Why is this happening? Where did this insolent manner of talking down from the height of their exceptionalism, infallibility, and all-permissiveness come from? What is the explanation for this contemptuous and disdainful attitude to our interests and absolutely legitimate demands? 

The answer is simple. Everything is clear and obvious. In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union grew weaker and subsequently broke apart. That experience should serve as a good lesson for us, because it has shown us that the paralysis of power and will is the first step towards complete degradation and oblivion. We lost confidence for only one moment, but it was enough to disrupt the balance of forces in the world. 

As a result, the old treaties and agreements are no longer effective. Entreaties and requests do not help. Anything that does not suit the dominant state, the powers that be, is denounced as archaic, obsolete and useless. At the same time, everything it regards as useful is presented as the ultimate truth and forced on others regardless of the cost, abusively and by any means available. Those who refuse to comply are subjected to strong-arm tactics. 

What I am saying now does not concern only Russia, and Russia is not the only country that is worried about this. This has to do with the entire system of international relations, and sometimes even US allies. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a redivision of the world, and the norms of international law that developed by that time -- and the most important of them, the fundamental norms that were adopted following WWII and largely formalised its outcome -- came in the way of those who declared themselves the winners of the Cold War. 

Of course, practice, international relations and the rules regulating them had to take into account the changes that took place in the world and in the balance of forces. 

However, this should have been done professionally, smoothly, patiently, and with due regard and respect for the interests of all states and one's own responsibility. Instead, we saw a state of euphoria created by the feeling of absolute superiority, a kind of modern absolutism, coupled with the low cultural standards and arrogance of those who formulated and pushed through decisions that suited only themselves. The situation took a different turn. 

There are many examples of this. First, a bloody military operation was waged against Belgrade, without the UN Security Council's sanction but with combat aircraft and missiles used in the heart of Europe. The bombing of peaceful cities and vital infrastructure went on for several weeks. I have to recall these facts, because some Western colleagues prefer to forget them, and when we mentioned the event, they prefer to avoid speaking about international law, instead emphasising the circumstances which they interpret as they think necessary. 

Then came the turn of Iraq, Libya, and Syria. The illegal use of military power against Libya and the distortion of all the UN Security Council decisions on Libya ruined the state, created a huge seat of international terrorism, and pushed the country towards a humanitarian catastrophe, into the vortex of a civil war, which has continued there for years. The tragedy, which was created for hundreds of thousands and even millions of people not only in Libya but in the whole region, has led to a large-scale exodus from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe. 

A similar fate was also prepared for Syria. The combat operations conducted by the Western coalition in that country without the Syrian government's approval or UN Security Council's sanction can only be defined as aggression and intervention. 

But the example that stands apart from the above events is, of course, the invasion of Iraq without any legal grounds. They used the pretext of allegedly reliable information available in the United States about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. To prove that allegation, the US Secretary of State held up a vial with white powder, publicly, for the whole world to see, assuring the international community that it was a chemical warfare agent created in Iraq. It later turned out that all of that was a fake and a sham, and that Iraq did not have any chemical weapons. Incredible and shocking but true. We witnessed lies made at the highest state level and voiced from the high UN rostrum. As a result we see a tremendous loss in human life, damage, destruction, and a colossal upsurge of terrorism. 

Overall, it appears that nearly everywhere, in many regions of the world where the United States brought its law and order, this created bloody, non-healing wounds and the curse of international terrorism and extremism. I have only mentioned the most glaring but far from only examples of disregard for international law. 

This array includes promises not to expand NATO eastwards even by an inch. To reiterate: they have deceived us, or, to put it simply, they have played us. Sure, one often hears that politics is a dirty business. It could be, but it shouldn't be as dirty as it is now, not to such an extent. This type of con-artist behaviour is contrary not only to the principles of international relations but also and above all to the generally accepted norms of morality and ethics. Where is justice and truth here? Just lies and hypocrisy all around. 

Incidentally, US politicians, political scientists and journalists write and say that a veritable "empire of lies" has been created inside the United States in recent years. It is hard to disagree with this -- it is really so. But one should not be modest about it: the United States is still a great country and a system-forming power. All its satellites not only humbly and obediently say yes to and parrot it at the slightest pretext but also imitate its behaviour and enthusiastically accept the rules it is offering them. Therefore, one can say with good reason and confidence that the whole so-called Western bloc formed by the United States in its own image and likeness is, in its entirety, the very same "empire of lies". 

As for our country, after the disintegration of the USSR, given the entire unprecedented openness of the new, modern Russia, its readiness to work honestly with the United States and other Western partners, and its practically unilateral disarmament, they immediately tried to put the final squeeze on us, finish us off, and utterly destroy us. This is how it was in the 1990s and the early 2000s, when the so-called collective West was actively supporting separatism and gangs of mercenaries in southern Russia. What victims, what losses we had to sustain and what trials we had to go through at that time before we broke the back of international terrorism in the Caucasus! We remember this and will never forget. 

Properly speaking, the attempts to use us in their own interests never ceased until quite recently: they sought to destroy our traditional values and force on us their false values that would erode us, our people from within, the attitudes they have been aggressively imposing on their countries, attitudes that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration, because they are contrary to human nature. This is not going to happen. No one has ever succeeded in doing this, nor will they succeed now. 

Despite all that, in December 2021, we made yet another attempt to reach agreement with the United States and its allies on the principles of European security and NATO's non-expansion. Our efforts were in vain. The United States has not changed its position. It does not believe it necessary to agree with Russia on a matter that is critical for us. The United States is pursuing its own objectives, while neglecting our interests. 

Of course, this situation begs a question: what’s next, what are we to expect? If history is any guide, we know that in 1940 and early 1941 the Soviet Union went to great lengths to prevent war or at least delay its outbreak. To this end, the USSR sought not to provoke the potential aggressor until the very end by refraining or postponing the most urgent and obvious preparations it had to make to defend itself from an imminent attack. When it finally acted, it was too late. 

As a result, the country was not prepared to counter the invasion by Nazi Germany, which attacked our motherland on June 22, 1941, without declaring war. The country stopped the enemy and went on to defeat it, but this came at a tremendous cost. The attempt to appease the aggressor ahead of the Great Patriotic War proved to be a mistake which came at a high cost for our people. In the first months after the hostilities broke out, we lost vast territories of strategic importance, as well as millions of lives. We will not make this mistake the second time. We have no right to do so. 

Those who aspire for global dominance have publicly designated Russia as their enemy. They did so with impunity. Make no mistake, they had no reason to act this way. It is true that they have considerable financial, scientific, technological, and military capabilities. We are aware of this and have an objective view of the economic threats we have been hearing, just as our ability to counter this brash and never-ending blackmail. Let me reiterate that we have no illusions in this regard and are extremely realistic in our assessments. 

As for military affairs, even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today's Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states. Moreover, it has a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons. In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country. 

At the same time, technology, including in the defence sector, is changing rapidly. One day there is one leader, and tomorrow another, but a military presence in territories bordering on Russia, if we permit it to go ahead, will stay for decades to come or maybe forever, creating an ever mounting and totally unacceptable threat for Russia. 

Even now, with NATO's eastward expansion the situation for Russia has been becoming worse and more dangerous by the year. Moreover, these past days NATO leadership has been blunt in its statements that they need to accelerate and step up efforts to bring the alliance’s infrastructure closer to Russia's borders. In other words, they have been toughening their position. We cannot stay idle and passively observe these developments. This would be an absolutely irresponsible thing to do for us. 

Any further expansion of the North Atlantic alliance's infrastructure or the ongoing efforts to gain a military foothold of the Ukrainian territory are unacceptable for us. Of course, the question is not about NATO itself. It merely serves as a tool of US foreign policy. The problem is that in territories adjacent to Russia, which I have to note is our historical land, a hostile "anti-Russia" is taking shape. Fully controlled from the outside, it is doing everything to attract NATO armed forces and obtain cutting-edge weapons. 

For the United States and its allies, it is a policy of containing Russia, with obvious geopolitical dividends. For our country, it is a matter of life and death, a matter of our historical future as a nation. This is not an exaggeration; this is a fact. It is not only a very real threat to our interests but to the very existence of our state and to its sovereignty. It is the red line which we have spoken about on numerous occasions. They have crossed it. 

This brings me to the situation in Donbas. We can see that the forces that staged the coup in Ukraine in 2014 have seized power, are keeping it with the help of ornamental election procedures and have abandoned the path of a peaceful conflict settlement. For eight years, for eight endless years we have been doing everything possible to settle the situation by peaceful political means. Everything was in vain. 

As I said in my previous address, you cannot look without compassion at what is happening there. It became impossible to tolerate it. We had to stop that atrocity, that genocide of the millions of people who live there and who pinned their hopes on Russia, on all of us. It is their aspirations, the feelings and pain of these people that were the main motivating force behind our decision to recognise the independence of the Donbas people's republics. 

I would like to additionally emphasise the following. Focused on their own goals, the leading NATO countries are supporting the far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine, those who will never forgive the people of Crimea and Sevastopol for freely making a choice to reunite with Russia. 

They will undoubtedly try to bring war to Crimea just as they have done in Donbas, to kill innocent people just as members of the punitive units of Ukrainian nationalists and Hitler's accomplices did during the Great Patriotic War. They have also openly laid claim to several other Russian regions. 

If we look at the sequence of events and the incoming reports, the showdown between Russia and these forces cannot be avoided. It is only a matter of time. They are getting ready and waiting for the right moment. Moreover, they went as far as aspire to acquire nuclear weapons. We will not let this happen. 

I have already said that Russia accepted the new geopolitical reality after the dissolution of the USSR. We have been treating all new post-Soviet states with respect and will continue to act this way. We respect and will respect their sovereignty, as proven by the assistance we provided to Kazakhstan when it faced tragic events and a challenge in terms of its statehood and integrity. However, Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist while facing a permanent threat from the territory of today's Ukraine. 

Let me remind you that in 2000–2005 we used our military to push back against terrorists in the Caucasus and stood up for the integrity of our state. We preserved Russia. In 2014, we supported the people of Crimea and Sevastopol. In 2015, we used our armed forces to create a reliable shield that prevented terrorists from Syria from penetrating Russia. This was a matter of defending ourselves. We had no other choice. 

The same is happening today. They did not leave us any other option for defending Russia and our people, other than the one we are forced to use today. In these circumstances, we have to take bold and immediate action. The people's republic of Donbas have asked Russia for help. 

In this context, in accordance with Article 51 (Chapter VII) of the UN Charter, with permission of Russia's Federation Council, and in execution of the treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic, ratified by the Federal Assembly on February 22, I made a decision to carry out a special military operation. 

The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime. 

To this end, we will seek to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation. 

It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force. At the same time, we have been hearing an increasing number of statements coming from the West that there is no need any more to abide by the documents setting forth the outcomes of World War II, as signed by the totalitarian Soviet regime. How can we respond to that? 

The outcomes of World War II and the sacrifices our people had to make to defeat Nazism are sacred. This does not contradict the high values of human rights and freedoms in the reality that emerged over the post-war decades. This does not mean that nations cannot enjoy the right to self-determination, which is enshrined in Article 1 of the UN Charter. 

Let me remind you that the people living in territories which are part of today’s Ukraine were not asked how they want to build their lives when the USSR was created or after World War II. Freedom guides our policy, the freedom to choose independently our future and the future of our children. We believe that all the peoples living in today’s Ukraine, anyone who want to do this, must be able to enjoy this right to make a free choice. 

In this context I would like to address the citizens of Ukraine. In 2014, Russia was obliged to protect the people of Crimea and Sevastopol from those who you yourself call "nats". The people of Crimea and Sevastopol made their choice in favour of being with their historical homeland, Russia, and we supported their choice. As I said, we could not act otherwise. 

The current events have nothing to do with a desire to infringe on the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. They are connected with defending Russia from those who have taken Ukraine hostage and are trying to use it against our country and our people. 

I reiterate: We are acting to defend ourselves from the threats created for us and from a worse peril than what is happening now. I am asking you, however hard this may be, to understand this and to work together with us so as to turn this tragic page as soon as possible and to move forward together, without allowing anyone to interfere in our affairs and our relations but developing them independently, so as to create favourable conditions for overcoming all these problems and to strengthen us from within as a single whole, despite the existence of state borders. I believe in this, in our common future. 

I would also like to address the military personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces. 

Comrade officers, 

Your fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers did not fight the Nazi occupiers and did not defend our common motherland to allow today's neo-Nazis to seize power in Ukraine. You swore the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people and not to the junta, the people's adversary which is plundering Ukraine and humiliating the Ukrainian people. 

I urge you to refuse to carry out their criminal orders. I urge you to immediately lay down arms and go home. I will explain what this means: the military personnel of the Ukrainian army who do this will be able to freely leave the zone of hostilities and return to their families. 

I want to emphasise again that all responsibility for the possible bloodshed will lie fully and wholly with the ruling Ukrainian regime. 

I would now like to say something very important for those who may be tempted to interfere in these developments from the outside. No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history. No matter how the events unfold, we are ready. All the necessary decisions in this regard have been taken. I hope that my words will be heard. 

Citizens of Russia, 

The culture and values, experience and traditions of our ancestors invariably provided a powerful underpinning for the well-being and the very existence of entire states and nations, their success and viability. Of course, this directly depends on the ability to quickly adapt to constant change, maintain social cohesion, and readiness to consolidate and summon all the available forces in order to move forward. 

We always need to be strong, but this strength can take on different forms. The "empire of lies", which I mentioned in the beginning of my speech, proceeds in its policy primarily from rough, direct force. This is when our saying on being "all brawn and no brains" applies. 

We all know that having justice and truth on our side is what makes us truly strong. If this is the case, it would be hard to disagree with the fact that it is our strength and our readiness to fight that are the bedrock of independence and sovereignty and provide the necessary foundation for building a reliable future for your home, your family, and your motherland. 

Dear compatriots, 

I am certain that devoted soldiers and officers of Russia's armed forces will perform their duty with professionalism and courage. I have no doubt that the government institutions at all levels and specialists will work effectively to guarantee the stability of our economy, financial system and social wellbeing, and the same applies to corporate executives and the entire business community. I hope that all parliamentary parties and civil society take a consolidated, patriotic position. 

At the end of the day, the future of Russia is in the hands of its multi-ethnic people, as has always been the case in our history. This means that the decisions that I made will be executed, that we will achieve the goals we have set, and reliably guarantee the security of our motherland. 

I believe in your support and the invincible force rooted in the love for our fatherland. 

*The speech has not been edited and appears verbatim as released in English by the Kremlin.* 

AFP

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