Indian leadership self-directed, led by national interests: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday (Oct 5) that the Indian leadership is "self-directed" and led by the country's national interests. Addressing the Valdai Discussion Club, President Putin alleged that the West was trying to cast everyone "who is not ready to blindly follow these Western elites as the enemy."

"At a certain point in time, they tried to do the same with India. Now they are flirting, of course. We all understand this very well. We feel and see the situation in Asia. Everything is clear. I want to say that the Indian leadership is self-directed. It is led by the national interests," Putin said.

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He added that the West was trying to cast Arabs as the enemy. The Russian president also said that countries such as India, Brazil, and South Africa deserve more representation in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and added that the UN should be reformed but gradually.

Ukraine would only last for a week if foreign aid stopped: Putin

During Thursday's event, Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian economy and military power would last for "only a week" if the foreign aid stopped.

"Generally speaking, the Ukrainian economy can not function without external assistance. Things have changed. Look, on the outside, it is all balanced there. The Ukrainian budget is balanced, and the macroeconomic indicators have levelled. But thanks to what? Thanks to multi-billion donations that come each month," Putin said.

"If one just stops it (SNAPS FINGERS), it will all die in a week. The same applies to the defence system. Just imagine - the aid stops tomorrow. It will live only for a week - when they run out of ammo," he added.

'Russia did not start war in Ukraine'

The Russian president also asserted that Moscow did not start the war in Ukraine but launched what it calls a "special military operation" to try to stop it.

"There is this ever-increasing military and political pressure. We have to respond. I have said many times that we did not start the so-called war in Ukraine. On the contrary, we are trying to end it. It was not us who worked a state coup in Kyiv in 2014 - bloody and anti-constitutional," he said.

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