Speaking today at the Valdai Debate Club in Sochi, the Russian president said he does not go to international summits, such as those of the G20 or the BRICS group, in order not to “cause problems” for the organizers, without mentioning the arrest warrant against of the International Criminal Court.

“Why would I want to cause problems for our friends who organize events,” he said during the Valdai political forum. “If I go, there will be political exposure, political attacks,” he said, estimating that there is “enough to do at home” anyway.

The Russian president’s absence has been noticeable at recent international meetings, such as the BRICS — the emerging economies in South Africa — or the G20 in India.

The International Criminal Court has issued an international arrest warrant against him for “deporting” Ukrainian children to Russia, which prevents him from traveling abroad. The Kremlin called the Hague accusations “invalid and without legal force”.

India, which hosted the G20 summit, is not a member of the ICC.

Putin will however travel to Kyrgyzstan in mid-October for his first trip abroad since the arrest warrant was issued.

Referring to Nagorno-Karabakh, Putin said it was “inevitable” to recapture the breakaway enclave from Azerbaijan, following criticism from Russia’s ally Armenia, which accuses Moscow of inaction.

“It was inevitable after the recognition of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty (over Karabakh) by the Armenian authorities,” he said, clarifying that Armenia had “always” been Russia’s ally. “It was only a matter of time before Azerbaijan began to restore constitutional order in the region,” he added.

At the same time, he declared that his country’s mission is to build “a new world” by condemning the “hegemony” of the West. He stressed that Russia wants to live in an “open world”, where international relations are free from the “logic of blocs” and are based on “collective solutions”.

– “Idiot” the former speaker of the House of Commons of Canada –

Speaking about the incident in Canada’s parliament, Putin called former House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota an “idiot” who called on MPs to applaud 98-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Hunka who fought in the USSR during World War II.

“If the Speaker of the Canadian Parliament says that this Canadian-Ukrainian Nazi fought against the Russians, he cannot but realize that he fought on the side of Hitler and not on the side of his own country, Canada.”

“If he doesn’t know that Hitler and his criminals fought Russia during the war, he’s an idiot,” he said. “And if he knows that this man fought on Hitler’s side and calls him Canada’s hero, that’s a disgrace,” he added.

“It is absolutely disgusting that the whole world applauds this Nazi, especially the president of Ukraine who has Jewish blood in his veins.” “The president of Ukraine stood up and applauded a Nazi who murdered Jews. Is this not a sign of Nazismization of Ukraine?”.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the incident.

– Germany should be proud of Schröder’s former chancellor –

The Russian president also said Germany should be proud of its former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, expressing surprise that such politicians still exist in Europe.

Schröder has described Putin as a personal friend and as chancellor pushed for the construction of the first Nord Stream pipeline to carry gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. Last year, he visited Putin and subsequently said Russia wanted to negotiate a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Schroeder’s behavior “disgusting”, while the German parliament stripped him of his privileges after he refused to distance himself from Putin over the war in Ukraine.

– Russia had agreed to supply Moldova with natural gas on the terms it requested –

During questions and answers at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Putin said that nothing has changed regarding gas supplies to Moldova, adding that he has asked Gazprom head Alexei Miller about the matter.

On Tuesday, the head of the Russian gas giant’s Moldovan subsidiary said that while Moldova has not used Russian gas since late last year, it is keeping open the option of buying it from Gazprom if the conditions are right — mainly if it is cheaper than the alternative sources.

Since December, Gazprom’s daily supply of 5.7 million cubic meters has been piped into the pro-Russian region of Transnistria, which broke away from Moldova when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990.