Putin fumes at BBC reporter for second time: Ranting president says he has ‘pulled Russia again from the abyss’ and mocks Britain’s shrinking financial system as he’s grilled throughout annual convention
Vladimir Putin has been seen fuming at a BBC editor for the second year in a row, this time mocking Britain’s shrinking economy and claiming he has ‘pulled Russia back from the abyss.’
Speaking to the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg at his annual end of year conference, Putin claimed his country’s economy was ‘way ahead of Great Britain.’
Rosenberg asked the despot, referring to Boris Yeltsin, the former president of Russia from 1991 to 1999: ‘Exactly 25 years ago, Boris Yeltsin resigned, handed you power and told you to take care of Russia. Some 25 years later, do you think you’ve taken care of Russia?
‘Because looking in, what do we see? We see substantial losses in the so-called “special military operation” that you declared.
‘We see Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. You criticise NATO expansion but there is now more NATO on Russia’s borders: Sweden and Finland.
‘Sanctions, high inflation, demographic problems. Do you think you’ve taken care of your country?’
Putin said in response: ‘Yes, and I think I haven’t just taken care of it, I think we’ve pulled back from the edge of the abyss because with everything that was happening to Russia before that we were heading towards a complete, total loss of our sovereignty.
‘Without sovereignty, Russia cannot exist as an independent state. Let me draw your attention to what you said about Boris Yeltsin.
Vladimir Putin was seen fuming at a BBC editor (pictured) for the second year in a row
Putin (pictured) claimed his country’s economy was ‘way ahead of Great Britain’
‘I think we’ve pulled back from the edge of the abyss’, Putin said
‘[The West] patronisingly patted him on the shoulder. They turned a blind eye when he drank. He was welcome in all Western circles.
Referring to Yeltstin’s criticism of NATO’s attacks against Yugoslavia in the 1990s amid the Kosovo conflict, Putin added: ‘The second he raised his voice in support of Yugoslavia, the moment he said that it contradicted international law and the UN charter, as soon as he said it was unacceptable in modern Europe to strike Belgrade, a European capital, without the sanction of the UN Security Council, they immediately started having a go at him – calling him names, saying he’s a drunk and so on.
‘Don’t you remember that? I have done everything so that Russia can be an independent sovereign state that is capable of taking decisions on its own interests, not in the interests of countries that were dragging it towards them, patting you on the shoulder so they can use you for their own purposes.
‘I could stop there. I know you’ve reeled off a string of things that seem to reinforce your arguments. You said about inflation – yes there’s inflation, we’re going to fight it.
‘But we have economic growth. We are ranked fourth in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP).
‘Please tell your readers that. First place in Europe, way ahead of Great Britain. I don’t think Great Britain is even in the top five.
‘We’re prepared to work with Great Britain if Great Britain wants to work with us.
‘But if it doesn’t happen, we’ll cope without out former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.’
‘How does this all match your actions of the past two and a half years? The invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine – where is the justice, stability and security?’ Rosenberg asked
Rosenberg calmly put it to Putin that his brutal war in Ukraine was in complete contravention of the tenets underpinning BRICS – that of justice, regional stability and security, and a fair world
According to the International Monetary Fund, Russia’s gross PPP makes it the fourth largest in the world, while Britain is ranked 10th.
But when sorted per capita, Britain has the 28th largest economy in the world, while Russia is far behind at 43rd, according to IMF and World Bank estimates.
Putin’s answer this year stands in stark contrast to the more aggressive tone he took last year, in which he railed against the West’s ‘perverse methods’ for maintaining global control, accusing Western powers of stifling the growth of emerging economies, manipulating stock markets and ‘aggravating old disagreements’
‘Is it fair that for years our (Western) partners for years ignored our constant appeals not to expand NATO to the East? To lie to our face and violate all their obligations… to get into Ukraine and build military bases?’ he scowled.
He went on to accuse the US of orchestrating and financing a coup in Ukraine in 2014 – a theme central to the Kremlin’s narrative that opposes the White House’s account that the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent invasion of Ukraine was down exclusively to Russian aggression.
As the conference drew to a close, Rosenberg asked a second question, referring to claims by Britain’s MI5 that Russian agents were ‘creating chaos’ on the streets of Britain.
That appeared to be the final straw for Putin, who audibly laughed, thanked Rosenberg for the question and immediately dismissed it as ‘utter rubbish’.
