Putin: The Entire Black Sea Coast Became Russian After The Russo-Turkish Wars

"The entire Black Sea coast became Russian after the Russo-Turkish Wars". This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of his annual press conference, where he answers selected questions from citizens and journalists.

At the outset, Putin announced that Russia's sovereignty was under threat and that "the very existence of our country without sovereignty is impossible. The whole country cannot exist without sovereignty."

TV host Pavel Zarubin asked a follow-up question: "When will there be peace?"

"There will be peace in Ukraine only when we achieve our goals. They remain unchanged. Denazification of Ukraine, demilitarization of Ukraine"

The comment marked a return of sorts to Putin's rhetoric since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, before the so-called second phase of the "special military operation" launched in late March when Russia accepted that it could not occupy all of Ukraine and focuses on its eastern part. With the disappointing performance of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin appears to be showing that Russia is still aiming for a complete capitulation of Kyiv.

Putin was also asked if there would be a new round of mobilization in Russia. He assured that the country has enough regular soldiers and volunteers.

"Why do we need mobilization? There is no need for mobilization today."

Putin has assured that Western military aid to Ukraine is drying up and that it will soon run out of foreign weapons to resist Russian pressure.

"Ukraine produces almost nothing, everything comes from the West, but the free stuff will run out someday, and it looks like it's already happening."

As for relations with Europe and the United States, Putin condemned the "imperialist" behavior of America, which was itself in the way. The West was blamed for deteriorating relations with Russia, which had done nothing wrong by invading Ukraine.

"We did not spoil relations with the West. They spoiled relations with us and always tried to push us into second or third place, ignoring our interests," he stressed.

A long lecture on the history of Ukraine from the Kremlin's point of view followed, interspersed with a comment that could be interpreted in more ways than one.

"The entire coast of the Black Sea became Russian after the Russo-Turkish wars. This has nothing to do with Ukraine. Odesa is a Russian city, Crimea is Russian. Everyone knows this very well. They began to invent historical nonsense. Vladimir Lenin gave them the territories - how, since the USSR was created after that. With the collapse of the USSR, we put up with it, but the south-eastern parts were always important to us. During the elections, they always voted for those who supported pro-Russian policies inside and outside of Ukraine. This was completely satisfactory for Russia, but after the coup in 2014 it became quite clear that they will not allow us to build normal relations with Ukraine".

More interesting, however, were the questions that Putin did not answer.

The filtering of the organizers before the press conference was clearly not very good. Because curious questions appeared on the screen behind the president, such as:

"Why is your reality different from our reality?"

"Mr. President, when will the real Russia stop being different from the TV one?"

"Can Russia win a war while on 'active defense?'"

There were also frank appeals without questions.

"Don't run for another presidential term. Give way to the young".

Angry voices called from forgotten Russian republics.

"We gave gas to China, we gave gas to Europe. But when will there be gas in Khakassia?"

"Why does a box of eggs in Dagestan cost 550 rubles?"

A question has arisen that can make us admire the potency of Russian propaganda. Or a joker's sense of humor.

"If Zelensky comes to his senses and attacks the West, will you support him?"

A question appeared that clearly showed the desperation of the questioner.

"This question will not be shown! I want to know - when will our president start paying attention to our country? We have no education, we have no health care. We are going to the abyss".

However, the cameraman was skilled and quickly changed shots when the awkward questions unexpectedly flashed on the big screen.

Last year, because of the war in Ukraine, Putin missed this televised burst of controlled popularity.

The moderators of the discussion were now Putin's press secretary - Dmitry Peskov, the presenter of "Channel One" TV Ekaterina Berezovska and the journalist of "Russia-1" TV Pavel Zarubin.

Citizens could ask their questions on a special site in text or video format, on toll-free numbers and through the social networks "VKontakte" and "Odnoklassniki".

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