This candid conversation took place with representatives of various media outlets during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, in June 2016. Putin urged journalists to report genuinely on the impending danger that is a nuclear arms race.
Nobody has anything to gain from a nuclear stand-off against Russia. The power hungry decision-makers are few in number, but powerful enough to have subverted mainstream media to misrepresent Russia as the main threat to international security.
Back in 2007, Putin informed the Western world that Russia will develop its weaponry to counter US advances. This was said in response to the US missile defense system that was starting to be developed at the time (previously prohibited in international law.)
With the NATO missile defense system on Russia's doorstep - the threat to international security is very real; not that you would know it via mainstream Murdoch media.
In 2002, the United States unilaterally and without consultation, withdrew from the landmark Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. President George W. Bush noted that the treaty is "now behind us," describing the ABM Treaty as a Cold War relic.
Signed in 1972, the ABM Treaty barred both the US and the USSR from deploying national defenses against long-range ballistic missiles. The treaty was based on the premise that if either superpower constructed a strategic defense, the other would build up its offensive nuclear forces to offset the defense.
The superpowers would therefore quickly be put on a path toward a never-ending offensive-defensive arms race, as each tried to balance its counterpart's actions. Until Bush took office, the Treaty was referred to as a "cornerstone of strategic stability" because it facilitated later agreements, reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals.
The US, assuming that a weakened Russia will never again be in a position to counter US hegemonic power, proceeded to encroach on Russia's borders through its manipulation of NATO objectives.
Today, there is no instrument in international law that prevents the possibility of mutually assured destruction. Putin has been sending out warnings for over 10 years - all of which fell on deaf ears.
Who will push the button first?
All of this is born out of the consolidated corporations and centralized government power. They are incredibly connected and each scratches the back of the other by designing things that will benefit both. Everyone knows this already and it's in no way bold to say it. There is no new ground with any of this. Yet, I find myself saying it over and over as if hoping that somehow, something's going to change if I can just find a better way to say it. It’s an endless exercise in futility however, because the fact is; even if 500 million people suddenly understood what I wrote, not one has any ability to do anything about it. The elites have enough money to find ways of buying life or death without consequence. So all we can do is find a way to enjoy what we have until it stops. So, present your flowers while you still can to the people you love while they still live.