Moscow (Times Of Ocean)- Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Tuesday that Moscow cannot be isolated or held back — no matter what retribution it receives — as he doubled down on his decision to invade Ukraine.
Putin said efforts to isolate Moscow would fail, citing the success of the Soviet space programme as evidence that Russia would be able to achieve spectacular leaps forward despite severe conditions.
After Washington and its allies imposed crippling sanctions on Russia for what Putin called a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, the Kremlin claimed Russia would never again rely on the West.
“We don’t intend to be isolated,” Putin declared, according to Russian state television. “It is impossible to severely isolate anyone in the modern world, especially such a vast country as Russia.”
“Russia would never again be dependent on the West after the US and its allies imposed crippling sanctions as punishment for his self-described ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine,” Putin insisted.
The Russian strongman said the deadly February 24 invasion was necessary as the United States used Ukraine to threaten Moscow via NATO.
In his remarks, Putin said “Moscow had to defend Russian-speaking people in Ukraine from persecution.”
Putin said he has no doubt Moscow will achieve its “noble” objectives in Ukraine, despite stiff resistance from Ukrainian troops and sweeping sanctions from the West.
Putin traveled to the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, 3,450 miles (5550 km) east of Moscow, on the same day that Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961.
The Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin made history by becoming the first man in space.
“The sanctions were fully implemented, the Soviet Union was completely isolated, but it was still first in space,” Putin said on state television.