Putin warns West against interfering and says he plans to lead
Russia 'for years to come'
Last updated at 7:59 AM on 9th February 2012
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, yesterday warned the West against interference in Russia and said he intends to lead the country for years to come.
Mr Putin is almost certain to win Russia's presidential election in March, but he nevertheless sent a stark signal to foes that he will not tolerate threats to stability.
Tens of thousands of Russians have turned out repeatedly in the past two months for protests calling for a rerun of the December parliamentary vote marred by accusations of fraud.
Domestic affair: Vladimir Putin today spoke to religious figures about his determination to maintain stability in Russia
Commenting on Western intervention in Libya last year, Mr Putin said: 'A cult of violence has been coming to the fore in international affairs in the past decade.
'This cannot fail to cause concern... and we must not allow anything like this in our country.'
His words echoed the criticism of
U.S. and NATO military action abroad that he frequently voiced as
president in 2000-2008.
'We of course condemn all violence
regardless of its source, but one cannot act like an elephant in a china
shop,' Putin told Russian religious leaders - Orthodox Christian,
Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist.
'Help them, advise them - limit, for instance, their ability to use weapons - but do not interfere under any circumstances.'
Powers of veto: Mr Putin, discussed Russia's policy on Syria with religious leaders at the St Daniel Monastery in Moscow
By raising the spectre of Western-backed Arab Spring upheaval reaching Russia, Mr Putin seemed to reveal a powerful motive for his support for Syrian president Bashar Assad.
Mr Assad has been under pressure to step down after 11 months of violent protests in Syria which have culminated in calls from the U.S. and Europe for sanctions against the country.
Locking elbows with China, Russia used its veto power in the UN Security Council on Saturday to block a Western-Arab draft resolution calling for Mr Assad to stand down.
Russia has pragmatic reasons to resist political change in Syria, which commentators say is its last real foothold in the Middle East.
Syria has been a major client for
Russian arms and hosts a naval maintenance and supply facility on its
Mediterranean coast that is the only base outside the former Soviet
Union for Russia's shrunken navy.
Single-minded: Mr Putin is almost certain to win Russia's presidential election in March, but he sent a stark signal to foes that he will not tolerate threats to stability
But Mr Putin is also motivated by a
desire to escape outside interference, as he readies himself for six
years as president that may be dogged by persistent protests and
complaints.
Anger flared after Mr Putin - who ushered in President Dmitry Medvedev when the constitution barred him running for a third successive term in 2008 - announced a plan to swap jobs.
Mr Putin has countered the resentment
at what people see as meaningless elections by casting leading activists
as paid puppets of the West.
The Kremlin has long championed the
right to freedom from international interference, but the new air of
political uncertainly inside Russia is making Moscow dig its heels in
deeper on Syria.
A high-profile mission to Syria by
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and spy chief Mikhail Fradkov on
Tuesday seemed to underscore the limits of a foreign policy calculated
to counter Western clout.
As Lavrov and Fradkov rode from
Damascus airport to Assad's residence for talks, the Russian Foreign
Ministry used Twitter to describe crowds of Syrians lining the route,
waving flags and thanking Russia for its support.
But they returned hours later with no sign of a breakthrough toward peace, and little to show for the journey.