Putin begins his speech. He starts talking about the "votes" to join Russia in Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine. "The people have made their choice [...] this is the will of millions." Putin says southeastern Ukraine is actually part of Russia because the Russian state's predecessors ruled it, it was part of the Russian empire, and because the USSR fought to free it from the Nazis in World War II. Putin says people in southeastern Ukraine now are going to live in "their true historical fatherland." "I want the Kyiv government and their real bosses in the west to hear me ... Residents of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are becoming our citizens forever." Putin calls on Ukraine to stop fighting and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. But these territories are off limits. "We will defend our lands with all the means at our disposal and do everything to protect our people. This is our great liberating mission." "The west is looking for new ways to strike against our country, to weaken and destroy Russia [...] they just can't put up with there being such a big country with its territory, rich natural resources, and people who won't live on anyone else's rules." Putin says the west wants to make Russia a "colony," "rob" it, and turn its people into a "crowd of voiceless slaves." "They don't need Russia, but we do." He says the western elite is "colonial" are "racist" because they are "spreading Russophobia all over the world." "The west has said for centuries it is bringing freedom and democracy to the world. Everything is exactly the opposite," Putin says. The only people who are ready to live according to US rules are "political masochists and other followers of non-traditional political relations," a homophobic joke. Putin rants about sex change operations. "This is unacceptable. We have our own future. "Outright Satanism" in the west (though Putin disappointingly did not expand on this). Putin says Russia wants to lead an "anti-colonial movement" to liberate the world. "We need to turn this disgraceful page. Western hegemony will be smashed. This is inevitable. We must do this for our people, the great historical Russia." "If I'm Russian, it means I love in Russian" "Truth is on our side. Russia is with us!"