Putin: Russia Will No Longer Play the West’s ‘One-Sided Game’
Putin vows to end 'one-sided' ties with West, citing NATO betrayal & broken promises. Accuses alliance of fueling Ukraine conflict through expansion while ignoring Russia's security concerns. Condemns Western 'double standards' on terrorism during EAEU summit remarks.
By Ahora Qadi
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Friday that Moscow would no longer participate in a “one-sided” relationship with Western powers, accusing them of repeated betrayals, unfulfilled promises, and consistent disregard for Russia’s security concerns.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit in Minsk, Putin criticized NATO’s justification for increasing defense spending, which he claimed was based on misrepresenting Russia’s actions as “aggressiveness.”
Broken promises and the roots of conflict
Putin stated that the origins of the Ukraine conflict trace back decades and alleged that Moscow was “blatantly lied to” regarding NATO’s expansion following the Cold War. “What followed was one expansion wave after another,” he told reporters, asserting that Russia’s objections were met with silence and inaction by the West.
“No one is saying a word about how we’ve come up to the Russian special military operation,” Putin said, suggesting that the military conflict did not arise in a vacuum but was a response to long-standing provocations and encroachments by NATO.
NATO expansion stokes Moscow’s ire
During the press briefing, Putin criticized NATO’s decision to raise defense spending to 5% of member states’ GDP, describing it as a reaction rooted in distorted narratives. “They are turning everything upside down,” he said. According to the Russian president, this move is being justified through exaggerated claims about Russia’s threat to Europe.
His remarks came days after the NATO summit in The Hague, where alliance members pledged to significantly increase military expenditures by 2035, citing “profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security.”
Accusations of Western support for separatism and terrorism
Putin also accused Western powers of double standards in addressing terrorism and separatism, claiming that such actions were tolerated or even supported when directed against Russia. “Everything was good as long as it was against Russia. Haven’t we seen this? They [the West] saw it as well. Yet, they only talk about our aggressiveness,” he said.
According to the Kremlin, terrorist groups operating on Russian soil were routinely ignored by the West, while acts of separatism received international support if they served to weaken Moscow.
Russia has long maintained that NATO’s eastward expansion, particularly Ukraine’s ambition to join the alliance, represents a direct threat to its national security. This, Putin reiterated, was a key reason that led to the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.
