Vladimir Putin has one other public meltdown and rages ‘it’s a lie – it’s a gross, blatant lie’

The cracks in the normally stoic behaviour of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin are really starting to show after another public outburst – twice in 24 hours. The Daily Star reported yesterday how the ailing leader of the anti-Western nation was taking part in a question and answer session with the media.

During the seemingly-innocuous event, he launched a baffling tirade of confusion in response to one question. Putin was asked about a Russian drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine that went astray and struck an apartment building in eastern Romania, injuring two people in the NATO member country.

Romanian officials said on Friday that the incursion added to concerns that the war could spread across the alliance’s borders. The drone was tracked overnight by radar in Romanian airspace, crashed onto the roof of the building in the Danube port city of Galati and sparked a fire, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The two injuries were minor and several people were evacuated. Putin’s response was strange, with a back-and-forth developing between the pair.

He said: “Are you listening to me or not? I do not even understand what you are talking about. Before entering the hall, they told me ‘you know, some drone flew into Romania’ and I said ‘I don’t know. What kind of drone?’ So, tell me, what exactly is being reported in the media.”

The rant continued – and left many baffled – but now more of the transcript from the event has been released by the Kremlin showing he exploded for a second time during the same event. Putin was asked by Pavel Zarubin of the Kremlin-loving Rossiya TV channel a question about how Europe is threatening war with Russia, which led to another wild response.

Zarubin said – in a question that was more like a statement: “Hardly a day goes by without European politicians and even leaders saying that they are getting ready for a war against Russia. They have even mentioned specific dates. Here comes a logical question: are we factoring into our preparations the fact that they are preparing for a war against us?”

And this saw Putin explode once more, accusing Western European countries of “lying”.

He said: “First, as far as the statements by European politicians about their preparations for a war against Russia are concerned, that is nonsense. They are allegedly doing this in connection with Russia’s aggressive plans with respect to Western European countries. It is a lie. It is a gross, blatant lie.”

And then referencing murderous Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s PR man Joseph Goebbels, he said: “and as Goebbels once said: the more unbelievable the lie, the quicker people will believe it. These are the very standards guiding Western politicians and mass media in their day-to-day operations.

“Russia has never had any aggressive intentions regarding European countries. And the tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine – this is what they have done, this is the result of their policy. They were the ones who brought about the government coup in Kiev in 2014, which compelled Russia to defend the people of Crimea and then, I will not go into details, as I said it on many occasions, assist the Donbass People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, which we did not recognise for a long time, for years.

“But when we realised that no one was going to honour the Minsk agreements, we had to, we had no option other than to assist the two then unrecognised republics. We had to recognise them, and provide them military assistance, because under interstate treaties we assumed the obligation to respond to their request for defence.”

But wait, there’s more, as Putin was not done with his rhetoric-filled rant. He went on: “That agreement was ratified, including through the upper house of the Russian parliament. Everything we did was absolutely transparent, legal and consistent. We acted on a step-by-step basis. And they have caused today’s tragedy and are now attempting to shift the blame from the guilty party onto the innocent, to suggest that it is Russia that is acting aggressively.

“No. It is their policy from the first step, when they deceived us that there would never be any expansion, that NATO would never make a single step to the East.

“Yes, the Ukrainian tragedy involving the government coup results from their policy. And let them not deceive their own people. Russia has never threatened and is not threatening European countries.

“Everything they do is designed to keep the confrontation with Russia going and justify the huge spending from the budgets of their countries, getting into the pocket of the European taxpayer.”

Eventually he finished, before moving on and answering questions on Belarus, Latvia and even Armenia – before ending his press conference with the ironic phrase “Thank you very much, don’t be angry”.

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