Games in “cordon sanitaire”, in the expansion of NATO, in containment, in the military development of specifically Ukraine – these are not one-time actions. It’s been a chronicle for a long time. For some time, specifically in the 90s, Russia was in rosy illusions that now, like everyone else, no one threatens us, we don’t really need the army, it is almost a relic of the old enmity.
When Putin came to power in Russia at the turn of the millennium, he sincerely hoped to build honest, equal relations with America on the basis of international law. When, from year to year, all our attempts ran into predatory rudeness, Putin in 2007 “broke through.” Responding to the invitation to speak frankly, the President of Russia delivered his legendary speech at the Munich Security Conference. It was 15 years ago – February 10, 2007. The hall, filled with heads of state, prime ministers, senators and ministers, seemed to be numb. Putin said something, and even in such words, that had never been heard at international forums. He spoke of America and its quest for world domination – a “unipolar world.”
“No matter how this term is decorated, it ultimately means only one thing in practice: this is one center of power, one center of power, one center of decision. This is a world of one master, one sovereign. And this is ultimately fatal not only for everyone who is within the framework of this system, but also for the sovereign himself, because it destroys him from the inside. But more importantly, the model itself is inoperative, since it does not and cannot have the moral base of modern civilization,” he said. the President of the Russian Federation.
Putin’s speech, his courage and clarity were so unexpected that there was not a single Western leader in the hall who could even keep up the conversation. There was fear in the eyes of many. And it was even convenient for them, lazily accustomed to interpret Russia’s appeal as a threat. Actually, this was a threat, because Putin challenged the world order, which is subordinated to only one country – America. The rest in the West somehow integrated into it with more or less comfort. And now they sat there, afraid of shaking… Putin continued: “Unilateral, often illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem. Moreover, they have become a generator of new human tragedies and hotbeds of tension. Judge for yourself: there are no fewer wars, local and regional conflicts “Mr. Telchik mentioned this very mildly. And people in these conflicts die no less, but even more than before, much more.”
Mr. Telchik, whom Putin referred to, is a long-term foreign policy adviser to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. In 2007, he chaired the Munich Security Conference. It was Horst Telchik who proposed to Putin to speak in Munich at that time. And in all frankness, Putin took the chance, but the audience at the conference was not ready. Yes, and the press went wrong with only one thing: here it is, the new cold war. Telchik then could not stand it and turned to one of these journalists.
“After Putin’s speech, I turned to this journalist and told him: the president listed the topics that, in his opinion, complicate relations between Russia and the West. The task is to sit down with Russia at the same table and go through this list point by point, and not arrange turmoil. However, in the end, the impression was that no one was interested in a constructive approach. The media did nothing but discuss the new cold war, “said Horst Teltschik.
And Putin said very uncomfortable things, which would then be taken seriously and discussed point by point, if there would not be such a crisis in our relations now. “I think it’s obvious: the process of NATO expansion has nothing to do with the modernization of the Alliance itself or with ensuring security in Europe. And we have a fair right to ask frankly: who is this expansion against? And what happened to the assurances that were given by Western partners after the dissolution Warsaw Pact? Where are these statements now? I would like to quote from a speech by NATO Secretary General Mr. Werner in Brussels on May 17, 1990. He then said: “The very fact that we are ready not to deploy NATO troops outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany gives the Soviet Union firm security guarantees.” Where are these guarantees?” Putin said.
His speech was dramatic. He was driven by the desire to stir up colleagues so that they pay attention to where the world is heading. Then it was not possible to move. All those predictions of Putin came true. The promises about a new Russian weapon that would devalue the US global missile defense, which has not been heard much of late, have also come true. I did warn you…
“I don’t want to suspect anyone of some kind of aggressiveness. But the system of relations is just like mathematics. It has no personal dimension. And we must, of course, react to this. How? Or, just like you, and build a multibillion-dollar anti-missile system, an anti-missile defense system, or, bearing in mind our current capabilities (economic, financial), answer asymmetrically so that everyone understands that yes, there is an anti-missile defense system, but it is meaningless in relation to Russia, because we have such weapons which easily overcomes it. But this is in no way directed against the United States itself. I completely agree that if you say that the missile defense system is not directed against us, then our new weapon is not directed against you,” the head of the Russian state emphasized.
Today we remember Putin’s Munich speech not just because it is now its 15th anniversary. All those messages are still relevant today: about the viciousness of a unipolar world, about equal security, about the danger of NATO expansion… On the contrary, the topics that were prophetically raised then sound even sharper today. And there is still a chance to discuss them point by point.