White House on Putin's Speech: "Personal Remarks"

(Photo by NYT)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yujin] The White House stated on the 21st (local time) that it has "no response" to Russian President Vladimir Putin's state of the nation address.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded during a press briefing to reporters' questions regarding Putin's warning to the United States and other Western countries that have strengthened sanctions against Russia, saying, "There will be no response to what was said personally."

In his annual address to the parliament, President Putin said that Russia would respond asymmetrically and firmly to the unfriendly provocations by the West, including the United States, and that the provocateurs would regret their actions.

He strongly criticized the United States and its allies by comparing them to Shere Khan (the tiger), the king of the jungle, and the sycophant Tabaki (the jackal) from the jungle in British novelist Rudyard Kipling's novel "The Jungle Book," in relation to the series of sanctions such as the expulsion of Russian diplomats by the United States and Western countries.

When asked whether Putin's analogy would affect the bilateral summit, Press Secretary Psaki said, "Discussions are ongoing" regarding the summit and added, "Of course, the parties involved in the summit must agree to hold it."

Coinciding with Putin's state of the nation address, protests demanding the release of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who is serving a prison sentence and whose death due to a hunger strike has raised concerns, took place across Russia.

On that day, thousands of citizens gathered in city centers not only in the capital Moscow and the second-largest city Saint Petersburg but also in cities in Siberia and the Far East to hold pro-Navalny demonstrations. They marched chanting slogans such as "Freedom for Navalny" and "Putin is a thief."

The police installed barricades in key areas near the Kremlin in advance to prevent the gathering of protesters, but demonstrators who assembled in various parts of the city formed long lines and marched through the streets toward the Kremlin. The police arrested and detained some of the more aggressive protesters. In Saint Petersburg, thousands also participated in protests, with many arrests made.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs estimated that about 14,000 people participated in protests across 29 cities nationwide, including 6,000 in Moscow and 4,500 in Saint Petersburg.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) monitoring political prisoner arrests, OVD-Info, reported that over 1,000 protesters were detained across Russia, including 20 in Moscow and 350 in Saint Petersburg.

The pro-Navalny protests began first in the Far East and Siberian cities of Russia, which span 11 time zones.

The demonstrations started in Far Eastern cities such as Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Magadan, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, then spread to Siberian cities including Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, and Yekaterinburg.

Navalny, considered President Putin's biggest political rival, was treated in Germany last August for poisoning symptoms and was arrested upon his return to Russia in January this year.

After being imprisoned, Navalny demanded treatment from his personal doctor due to back and leg pain, but when this was denied, he declared a hunger strike on the 31st of last month.

His personal doctors announced on the 17th that his blood potassium levels were at a dangerous level and that he could die at any time from cardiac arrhythmia, but prison authorities still do not allow external medical examinations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.