Putin's Riddles

President Putin's speech at Wedensday's Victory Parade on Moscow's Red Square caused quite a stir in the foreign press. The New York Times interpreted the speech as having "obliquely compared the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich". The Financial Times found "renewed attacks on what he (Putin - Blog Author's note) calls US unilateralism, saying there were “new threats” based on “the same disregard for human life and the same pretensions to international exclusivity and diktat as in the Third Reich”.

The speech taken word-for-word from the Kremlin press-service, more specifically the excerpt that caused such an uproar, goes as following:

Victory Day not only unites the people of Russia but also unites our neighbours in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. We are deeply grateful to the generation of people whose difficult fate it was to face this war. They have passed on to us their traditions of fraternity and solidarity and their truly hard-won experience of unity and mutual aid. We will preserve this sacred memory and historical legacy.

Those who attempt today to belittle this invaluable experience and defile the monuments to the heroes of this war are insulting their own people and spreading enmity and new distrust between countries and peoples.

We have a duty to remember that the causes of any war lie above all in the mistakes and miscalculations of peacetime, and that these causes have their roots in an ideology of confrontation and extremism.

It is all the more important that we remember this today, because these threats are not becoming fewer but are only transforming and changing their appearance. These new threats, just as under the Third Reich, show the same contempt for human life and the same aspiration to establish an exclusive dictate over the world.

It is my conviction that only common responsibility and equal partnership can counter these challenges and enable us to join forces in resisting any attempts to unleash new armed conflicts and undermine global security.

What is certain is the indirect reference to Estonia whose people "defile the monuments to the heroes of this war". That reference was very anticipated, since President Putin never made any public statements on the diplomatic conflict between Estonia and Russia, unlike the members of his "vertical of power", rooting for the escalation of a conflict that has hurt Russia more than Estonia.

It is far-fetched, however, to say that the phrase about some force or country out there that shows "contempt for human life and an aspiration to establish and exclusive dictate", the roots of which lie in an ideology of "confrontation" and "extremism", can be attributed to the US. Yet, what it actually refers to is unclear; if the speech were two or three years old, it would be most likely attributed to the extremism stemming from the Middle East. It is very unlikely that this topic could be brought up again, but the range of other meanings of this statement is very narrow (the US is not within the list).

With regard to misinterpretations, there is an euphemism in the Russian language, "The hat is always on fire on the thief's head" (referring to a guilty conscience speaking). The only way a link between Putin's speech and the United States foreign policy can be established is if there is inner belief in the minds of the journalists and political analysts that the US does resemble the mystery country President Putin mentioned.

Interpreting President Putin' speeches has been as easy as interpreting the Sphinx's riddles. Russian journalists and political analysts have for at least three years now been trying to discern who will lead the country after President Putin steps down, and whether he will step down after all. As a result there are at least five candidates for the Russian presidency, two of which most people think will be on the ballot, but not one of them has affirmed the start of the presidential campaign, neither has Putin given the green flag for the race for the presidency.

Sixty Two Years Ago - Victory Day in Europe

“Your name is unknown; your feat is immortal”; these words are inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow’s Alexander Park. On May 8^th, 1945 shortly before midnight the German High Command in the presence of Soviet Union Marshal Georgi Zhukov signed a treaty of unconditional surrender to the Soviet Union.

Sixty two years ago the deadliest conflict in Europe came to an end; the worldwide destruction of militaristic fascism would be finalized in September of 1945. Historical consequences resulted in the Soviet Union taking on the biggest blow of the fascist machine, and for four years battling more than three quarters of the combined Nazi forces to their ultimate defeat in Berlin. The Soviet Union was not alone in its struggle. Almost all countries in Europe, defeated by the German Nazis, witnessed atrocities previously unknown both in their cruelty and their scale. Japanese militarism committed crimes in Asia almost mirroring the devastation done to the European continent. In the summer of 1942, the world saw the full extent of Fascist and Imperialist domination. Territories from Calais to Stalingrad, and from Manchuria to the Dutch East Indies lay in the hands of the enemy.

For Russia, May 9^th has inherited the status as one of the few days in the year when the entire nation is united in their celebrations, remembrances, and, most importantly, in their views on the significance of those four years in Russian history. May 9^th can almost be considered the Russian Day of Independence. To this date historians in Russia, and even worldwide engage in hostile debates about the events in the 1930s and 40s; many question the achievements claimed by the Soviet side; some attempt to rewrite history to shift or spread the blame for the war away from the Nazi regime onto the wrongdoings committed in the Soviet Union. These debates will continue for years to come; perhaps in one or two generations they will take a calmer route, as the eyewitnesses of the war-time and post-war events will no longer be with us.

But May 9^th is not about the political backgrounds and the secret treaties that dominated the minds of those that decided the fate of the world back then; it is a day celebrating the defeat of fascism, defeat of imperialism, and defeat of all those values that permitted the idea of slavery, slaughter, and destruction. It is a day to remember those millions who gave their life to this cause without second thoughts; a day when we give our thanks to those who gave us a peaceful world.

Take a closer listen to history; the files below include Molotov's speech on June 22, 1941 announcing the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, and Stalin's speech on May 9th 1945 to announce the capitulation of the Nazi army.