Key points of Putin’s EEF speech — RT Russia and former Soviet Union

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a lengthy speech at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok on Thursday. His speech focused on the development of the Far East, cooperation with Russia’s partners in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as other domestic and foreign policy issues.

The ongoing conflict with the West and the Ukrainian conflict, including Kiev’s incursion into the Kursk region, were at the top of the agenda. The session was attended by a number of senior foreign officials, including Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Here are the main takeaways from the president’s speech.

Russia’s Economic Priority for the Current Century

In his opening address to EEF participants, Putin stressed the importance of the Far East for Russia, describing it as a key route for cooperation with Asia and the Global South. “We have defined the development of the Far East as a national priority for the entire 21st century. The importance of this decision has been confirmed by life itself, by the challenges we have faced in recent times,” Putin said, noting that the “This region allows us to overcome the barriers that some Western elites are trying to impose on the whole world.”

In this context, the Russian president stressed that Moscow has launched several extremely ambitious infrastructure projects. He stressed that the efforts undertaken to improve the railway network, for example, exceed the scale of the megaprojects of the Soviet era.

De-dollarization, a global trend

Putin stressed that Russia never sought to abandon the dollar, noting that it was Western sanctions that forced it to find other ways to conduct transactions with international partners.

He stressed that the dollar became the dominant world currency after World War II, with the United States taking advantage of its position at the end of the war. However, according to Putin, the situation is beginning to change.

“For example, we and our BRICS partners already use national currencies for about 65% (of transactions). This is a natural process.”he said, adding however that the United States was accelerating the tectonic shift with its “unprofessional and stupid actions” while refusing to acknowledge his mistake.

Ukrainian Incursion into Kursk is a Real Disaster

This is the “sacred duty” The Russian military has asked Moscow to expel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region, the Russian president said. He noted that Ukraine hopes to put pressure on Moscow “nervous,” to undermine the morale of the population and force the redeployment of troops from other sectors of the front, but miscalculated in every respect.

By launching the Kursk offensive, Putin continued, Ukraine weakened its forces in Donbass, which allowed Russian troops to advance rapidly in the region. At the same time, kyiv’s forces suffered heavy losses during the Kursk operation, he added.

Ukrainian “aliens”

Ukraine’s refusal, under Western pressure, to sign a peace deal with Russia in 2022 suggests that the country is being ruled by “foreigners or foreigners”, Putin suggested that kyiv’s withdrawal from a deal demonstrated its contempt for ordinary people dying in the conflict.

The only option left for kyiv to make up for lost time “Colossal losses” is to lower the conscription age again. This would allow “We need to recruit children, as the German Nazis did with the Hitler Youth. But that won’t solve the problem… The next step is to mobilize the students, to bleed the country dry.” he said.

We support Harris

Asked if he had a preferred candidate in the US presidential election after the withdrawal of Joe Biden, whom he previously supported, Putin indicated that he would prefer to see Vice President Kamala Harris win in November.