Munich speech convey view of many nations: Putin

Amman, Feb 13: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stunned the West with a stinging verbal attack on the United States at the weekend, said today he only expressed views about U.S. policies that were shared in many other countries.

In a keynote speech to an international security conference in Munich on Saturday, Putin accused the United States of seeking to dominate the world.

''Everything I said, I believe in this, is pure truth,'' he told Russian journalists during a visit to Jordan.

''They talk about this ... in the whole world,'' he said. ''But in some countries they talk about this arrogantly and in a confrontational manner, which I believe is counter-productive and unacceptable, and in others they whisper about this.'' Suspicions that Putin is backsliding on democracy and is trying to revive Russian imperialism on the back of economic growth fuelled by high oil and gas prices, have soured Moscow's relations with the West.

A resurgent Russia has found itself at odds with the United States on key international issues, including Iraq, Iran and Washington's plans to defend itself from possible attacks by rogue states with a new missile defence system.

''I personally come to the conclusion that no matter what we say ... there will be people who will find something new to attack Russia with,'' Putin said. ''The best thing for us is to say openly and sincerely what we think.'' Putin has accused Washington and other Western nations of exercising double standards in relations with Russia.

He has also described as politicised Washington's criticism of Russia's record on democracy and its gas price wars with ex-Soviet neighbours, seen by many in the West as the Kremlin's attempt to keep them within its sphere of influence.

Russia sees NATO's expansion eastwards as a threat to its own security. Many Russian officials suspect their country is a target of the new US missile defence system, parts of which may be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Putin said in Jordan that Russia remained patient as long as Washington used criticism of Russia as a diplomatic instrument.

''But lately (US officials) started using the non-existent Russian threat to hammer out extra funds from Congress to conduct military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, build an expensive missile defence,'' he said.

''We do not understand the need to play a Russian card in solving domestic problems.''

Reuters

Related Stories