Russian President Vladimir Putin while speaking at the annual news press conference said that insulting Prophet Muhammad is a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam.”
The Russian president also spoke out against users posting photos of Nazis on sites dedicated to Russians who had died in World War II while explaining that such acts lead to reprisals like the Charlie Hebdo incident after cartoons of Prophet Muhammad were published by the magazine which later led to a terror attack on its office in Paris.
The Russian president reportedly said that artistic freedom should not infringe on other freedoms as he emphasised that Russians respect other religions.
Tensions between the West and Russia has been at its peak with thousands of Russian troops gathered at the border. President Putin during the press conference reiterated security guarantees from the US over Ukraine.
In the press conference which lasted for nearly four hours, Putin said “this is not our choice,” referring to conflict with Ukraine.
The Biden administration and the European Union have warned Putin’s regime of “massive consequences” if it attacks Russia.
Amid the escalating tensions, Putin said security guarantees should be “immediate -now”.
“They told us in the 1990s: not an inch to the East. What is the result? They cheated us. They simply impudently cheated us with NATO’s five waves of expansion,” Putin alleged during the press conference.
The Russian president said his country hasn’t “approached the borders of the United States or Britain” but “they have approached ours.”.
“And now they say Ukraine will also be a NATO member. So, their weapon systems will emerge there,” Putin asserted.
