On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of colonial hubris and attempted to smash his country with "stupid" economic sanctions.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a hallmark event staged this year with almost no Western participation; he repeatedly emphasized Russia's independence and strength in the face of what he portrayed as Western hostility:

 

"We are strong people and can cope with any challenge. Like our ancestors, we will solve any problem, the entire thousand-year history of our country speaks of this"

Putin earned plaudits from the audience when he repeated his commitment to continue the "special military operation" in Ukraine, resulting in an "unprecedented" bombardment of Western economic sanctions, as he described them.

He stated that the primary objective of the incursion was to defend "our" people in the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, a justification that Kyiv and the West dismiss as a baseless pretext for a campaign that has already resulted in the occupation of portions of southern Ukraine that extend far beyond the Donbas.

Putin stated in a lengthy address that the Russian soldiers in the Donbas were also fighting to protect Russia's "rights to secure development."

Putin stated, "The West has fundamentally refused to fulfill its earlier obligations, it turned out to be simply impossible to reach any new agreements with it,"

Russia's choice to launch a special military operation was compelled, challenging, but made and necessary, given the escalating risks and threats we face in the current environment.

The US views itself as God's representative on Earth.

He referred to the campaign as the action of a "sovereign country that has the right to defend its security." He accused the West of not only drumming up anti-Russian sentiments but also "active military appropriation of Ukrainian territory."

Putin stated that the United States believed itself to be "God's emissary on Earth," and that Western sanctions were based on the fallacious premise that Russia lacked economic sovereignty.

He stated that Washington and its allies were attempting to "change the course of history,"

The Kremlin said shortly before Putin began speaking that a "denial of service" cyber attack had disrupted the conference's accreditation and admittance procedures, forcing him to delay his speech by one hour.

Putin stated that the EU could lose more than $400 billion this year due to the sanctions, which would harm those who imposed them.

He refuted claims that Russia was responsible for the steep spike in global food prices by stating that the inability to ship five or six tonnes of Ukrainian wheat and six or seven tonnes of corn "doesn't change the weather."

He stated that Russia was prepared to guarantee the passage of grain-exporting ships over the Black Sea but that Ukraine had five or six alternative options for exporting its grain, including Belarus, Poland, and Romania.

Ukraine has been utilizing alternative road, rail, and river routes to circumvent the blockade of its principal deep-sea port, Odesa, for fear of a Russian invasion.

However, the other routes are significantly more laborious, and their capacity is at best a third of the 6 million tonnes per month of grain and oilseeds formerly exported from Odessa.