With pomp, bluster and ceremony, Putin defies West in speech

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast his move to absorb four Ukrainian regions as part of an existential battle for Russia’s very survival against an aggressive West. The speech — delivered in the ornate St. George’s Hall in the Grand Kremlin Palace — signalled his readiness to further up the ante in the eight-month conflict. The fiery speech that Putin delivered Friday before signing the treaties for the Ukrainian regions’ absorption into Russia marked his harshest criticism of the West to date. He accused the U.S. and its allies of trying to bring Russia down on its knees and enslave its people. He also vowed to use “all means available” to fend off enemy attacks — a clear reference to Russia’s nuclear arsenal.