2007 Munich speech of Vladimir Putin

Munich speech of Vladimir Putin is the remarkable speech of Russian leader Vladimir Putin which he spoke in Germany on 10 February 2007 at Munich Security Conference.

The speech expressed significant points of future politics of Russia driven by Putin. In the following years it received epithets from the press such as "iconic" and "prophetic". Ful transcript is avaliable at Wikisource.

Synopsis

Putin criticized what he called the United States' monopolistic dominance in global relations, and "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations". He said the result of it is 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". This came to be known as the Munich Speech, and former NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called the speech, "disappointing and not helpful." The months following Putin's Munich Speech were marked by tension and a surge in rhetoric on both sides of the Atlantic. Both Russian and American officials, however, denied the idea of a new Cold War. Putin publicly opposed plans for the U.S. missile shield in Europe, and presented President George W. Bush with a counterproposal on 7 June 2007 which was declined. Russia suspended its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe on 11 December 2007.

Follow-ups

There were speeches that were called follow-ups to the Munich Speech. These include:

• Crimean speech of Vladimir Putin
• Valdai speech of Vladimir Putin

See also

• Foreign policy of Vladimir Putin
• Munich Security Conference