Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech today at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow Before the combined chambers of the State Duma and the Federation Council. He was heard by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and Patriarch Kirill.
The Kremlin leader’s speech lasted 115 minutes, most of which was devoted to criticizing the West.. The reactions of Putin’s inner circle caught the attention of many media outlets, who did not hide their exhaustion during his “great speech” to the nation: some high-ranking officials yawned and clearly showed signs of exhaustion. There were people who fell asleep. Their photos have been circulating in the world media for hours. This situation did not escape the attention of Polish commentators.
People unable to shake off their fatigue during the long speech can even be seen in some clips of Russian state media’s live broadcasts.
And it became clear when the speech was finally over and the Russian national anthem was playing over the loudspeakers. Many of Putin’s listeners did not participate in the sing-along.
“Scenes of fed-up and disgruntled officials watching their president deliver another long speech by Putin in September that Russia has annexed four territories in eastern and southern Ukraine – even though they are not exerting full control over any of them” – reported the Daily Mail under the headline “World Snore 3”.
In today’s speech to the Federal Assembly, Putin saidBefore returning to discussions on START, Russia “must agree on how to inspect French and British nuclear weapons.”
A week ago, the Russian president signed a decree to put the ground-based missile complexes of the strategic nuclear forces on combat readiness.
– The US and NATO openly state that their goal is the strategic defeat of Russia. Then they drive our security facilities, including new ones, as if nothing happened. A week ago, I signed an order to put new ground-based strategic systems into battle. Will they poke their noses in there too and think it’s too easy for us to let them in? – He was listening.