MOSCOW, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir said on Thursday that the international situation had deteriorated and that the world was getting more dangerous but he was silent on the situation in Venezuela and Iran.
Putin has yet to comment in public on the toppling of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro by the United States, the protests in Iran or U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats against Greenland.
“The situation on the international stage is increasingly deteriorating – I don’t think anyone would argue with that – long-standing conflicts are intensifying, and new serious flashpoints are emerging,” Putin said with a smile.
In a speech to new ambassadors who had presented their credentials in the Kremlin, his first public remarks on foreign policy issues this year, Putin did not mention the United States or Trump explicitly.
“We hear a monologue from those who, by the right of might, consider it permissible to dictate their will, lecture others, and issue orders,” Putin said. “Russia is sincerely committed to the ideals of a multipolar world.”
Putin urged a discussion of Russia’s proposals for a new security architecture in Europe.
“We hope that recognition of this need will come sooner or later. Until then, Russia will continue to consistently pursue its goals.”
The war in Ukraine, Europe’s deadliest since World War Two, has sparked the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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