Thread by @samagreene

Putin's Donbas address is unbelievably dark and aggressive.

I've watched a lot of Putin speeches, and I don't think I've ever seen one quite like this.

"Contemporary Ukraine should be called The Vladimir I. Lenin Republic of Ukraine. And then they tore down his statues and called it de-communization. You want decommunization? We're prepared to show you what that really means for Ukraine."

This speech has none of the euphoria -- none of the high moral notes -- of Putin's 2014 Crimea address. It doesn't even have the rallying cries of his Feb. 23 2012 campaign speech.

What it does do is pour salt on just about all of the wounds Gulnaz Sharafutdinova identified in her book, The Red Mirror.
global.oup.com/academic/produ…

In other words, this is a speech designed not to make people happy, but to make them angry.

It's also worth noting that Putin really isn't a historian. It's hard to figure out what's more striking -- what he says, or what he doesn't say.

On the other hand, listening to Putin talk about the crimes of Ukrainian oligarchs is genuinely amusing.

I'm _really_ not sure it's a good idea for him to say so much about oligarchs and corruption and self-interested rulers. This will sound awfully familiar to a lot of people who were right there with him until this part.

This whole speech is -- as with his earlier essays -- laying the groundwork for the wholesale occupation of Ukraine. That doesn't mean that's where he's heading, but he's giving people a big wind-up.

It should by now be rather clear that this speech wasn't written after today's Security Council meeting.

I may be wrong, but I don't see very many ordinary Russians being all that worked up about the quality of governance in Ukraine -- which is just about all Putin has talked about in the last 20 minutes or so: corruption, poverty, mismanagement...

Switching now to threats ostensibly posed by Kyiv -- but against Russian language, religion, etc, not against Russia itself. I assume that's yet to come.

Now accusing Kyiv of sponsoring Islamist terrorism in Crimea. With support from Western intelligence agencies. Ugh.

Now come the military threats: "working with the int'l community in its geopolitical confrontation with Russia" = "preparing for war with Russia". Ukraine's ability to rebuild a nuclear arsenal is a threat.

"We cannot ignore Ukraine's military buildup."

"The US and NATO have begun the shameless takeover of Ukrainian territory as a theater of future military activity."

If this is justification for recognizing DPR/LPR, it's overkill.

Really funny to hear Putin remember that Ukraine's constitution forbids foreign bases.

Equally amusing to hear Putin say that the OSCE treaty forbids one country from achieving its security at the expense of another's.

Now pivoting to the US and NATO, ramping up the sense of threat. Throwing everything -- enlargement, anti-missile defense, etc -- into the pot, warning Russians of a possible American first strike. This is heavy stuff.

Now we're back to the potential of US missile bases in Ukraine -- blaming the US for ending INF and CFE.

I don't get paid enough to listen to this sh*t.

Interesting nugget: Putin claims he raised Russian membership in NATO in a convo with Bill Clinton, who was dismissive.

We knew Clinton had this convo with Yeltsin (and was not dismissive). But with Putin?

Now we're back to the Russian "treaty proposals". "Our principled proposals were ignored."

This really undermines the whole "we're not planning to invade" thing, doesn't it?

America's "goal is clear: to contain Russia's development. Not for any good reason, but just because we exist, and because we continue to insist on our sovereignty."

"We have every right to take measures to improve our security. Which is what we are going to do." Doesn't say how, though.

Turning now to Donbas -- accusing Ukraine of crimes against humanity, massing troops, shelling villages. "But the so-called civilized world, as our Western partners like to call themselves, prefer not to notice the genocide of almost 4 million people."

"Russia did everything to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine."

"I find it necessary to take a long-overdue decision, to recognize the DPR and LPR. ... From those who continue their aggression, we demand an immediate and complete cease-fire."

That's it.