Munich speech of Vladimir Putin

The Munich speech of Vladimir Putin was a speech by Russian leader Vladimir Putin given in Germany on 10 February 2007 at the Munich Security Conference.

Putin delivers the Munich speech

Putin used the speech to express significant points of the future direction of politics as it would be directed in Russia by himself. In subsequent years it received descriptions in the Russian press such as "iconic"[1] and "prophetic".[2] It is considered in the West to be the first milestone of the Russia–NATO confrontation.

Synopsis

Putin criticized what he called the United States' monopolistic dominance in global relations, and its "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations". The speech came to be known, especially in Russia, as the Munich speech. He said the result of such dominance was that,

[…] no one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race.[3]

Response

In response, former NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called it, "disappointing and not helpful."[4] The months following the Munich speech[3] were marked by tension and a surge in rhetoric on both sides of the Atlantic, though both Russian and American officials, however, denied the idea of a new Cold War.[5]

Putin publicly opposed plans for the U.S. missile shield in Europe, and presented President George W. Bush with a counter proposal on 7 June 2007 which was declined.[6] Russia suspended its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe on 11 December 2007 because:

Seven years have passed and only four states have ratified this document, including the Russian Federation.[3]

Follow-ups

Putin later made other speeches that were called follow-ups to the Munich speech. These include:

• The Crimean speech of Vladimir Putin
• The Valdai speech of Vladimir Putin
• U. N. General Assembly speech on 28 September 2015 ("I'm urged to ask those who created this situation: do you at least realize now what you’ve done?")[7]

References

1. "'Wars not diminishing': How Putin's iconic 2007 Munich speech sounds today". RT. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
2. "Putin's Prophetic 2007 Warnings in Munich All Coming True". Sputnik. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
3. "Speech and the Following Discussion at the Munich Conference on Security Policy". kremlin.ru. 10 February 2007.
4. Watson, Rob (10 February 2007). "Putin's speech: Back to cold war? Putin's speech: Back to cold war?". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
5. "Munich Conference on Security Policy, As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, 11 February 2007". DefenseLink. United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original on 2007-02-14.
6. "Press Conference following the end of the G8 Summit". kremlin.ru. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
7. "70th session of the UN General Assembly". kremlin.ru. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 2019-06-10.

See also

• Foreign policy of Vladimir Putin