Putin accuses West of fuelling war he started in quest for ‘global domination’

Vladimir Putin has attempted to cast his war in Ukraine as an attempt by western countries to enact its quest for global domination.Addressing a conference of international policy experts, the Russian president suggested that the US and its allies were trying to dictate their terms to other nations in a ‘dangerous and bloody’ game of domination.Mr Putin also argued that the west, blinded by colonialism, was trying to contain the rest of the world.’The west … has taken several steps towards escalation and they are always trying to escalate. There’s nothing new there,’ Mr Putin told the Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday.’They’re fuelling the war in the Ukraine, organising politicians around Taiwan, destabilising the world food and energy markets.’As far as the last one is concerned, it is not deliberate, [I] don’t doubt that. It was due to a number of systemic errors committed by the western authorities I’ve just mentioned.’The Valdai Discussion Club is a think tank based in Moscow with close links to the Russian president. Since it was founded in 2004, Mr Putin has met with its participants each year to discuss and deliver ‘a qualified and objective assessment of global political and economic issues,’ according to its website.More follows