Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun his state of the nation speech in Moscow.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader would focus on what Moscow refers to as its “special military operation” in Ukraine and Russia’s economy and social issues.

Many observers also expect the speech to address Russia’s frosty relations with the West.

Putin says Russia tried to settle the conflict in the Donbas region which had been simmering since early 2014 by peaceful means but was eventually forced to take action.

“We were doing everything possible to solve this problem peacefully, negotiating a peaceful way out of this difficult conflict, but behind our backs, a very different scenario was being prepared,” the Russian leader said.

Putin claimed that in February 2022, before Russia launched its invasion, “everything was prepared” by Ukraine’s government for punitive action in the Donbas, which lies in eastern Ukraine.

“I would like to repeat, they started the war, and we used force in order to stop it,”he said.

“Ukraine and Donbas have become a symbol of total lies,” Putin added. He also accused the West of withdrawing from “fundamental agreements” and expanding NATO eastwards to cover Russia “with an umbrella”.

Russia’s president has again railed against the West, accusing it of seeking “unlimited power” in world affairs.

“The West uses Ukraine as a ram against Russia,” Putin said.

“The Western elite does not conceal their goal, which is to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. It means to finish us forever and grow a local conflict into global opposition. That’s the way we understand it and accordingly, we will respond to that,” he added.

Putin also said Moscow was defying attempts by Ukraine’s allies to hamper its economy through an unprecedented package of sanctions.

He claimed trillions of dollars were at stake for the West, but that Russia’s income flows had not dried up.

Putin has warned the West against supplying additional military aid to Ukraine, saying such support will draw a military response from Moscow.

“One circumstance must be understood by everyone … The more long-range weapons arrive in Ukraine from the West, the more we will have to push the threat from our borders, that’s natural,” he said.

Russia’s president has pledged to “systematically” press on with Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine.

Flanked by four Russian tricolour flags on either side of him, Putin told Russia’s political and military elite that Russia would “carefully and consistently resolve the tasks facing us”.

Putin has accused Ukraine’s leaders of taking the country’s population “hostage”, adding Kyiv is “serving the interests of foreign powers”.

“The people of Ukraine themselves have become hostages of the Kyiv regime and its Western masters, who have actually occupied this country in a political, military, and economic sense,” the Russian leader said.

“The regime is not serving their national interest,” he added.

Putin has said he understands the difficulties faced by relatives of Russian soldiers who have died fighting in Ukraine and pledged to provide them with “targeted support” via a new special fund.

“We all understand, I understand how unbearably hard it is now for the wives, sons, daughters of fallen soldiers, their parents, who raised worthy defenders of the fatherland,” the Russian president said.

Putin has reiterated criticism of the West as decadent, saying it is heading for “spiritual catastrophe”.

“They distort historical facts and constantly attack our culture, the Russian Orthodox Church, and other traditional religions of our country,” Putin said.

“Look at what they do with their own peoples: the destruction of the family, cultural and national identity, perversion, and the abuse of children are declared the norm. And priests are forced to bless same-sex marriages,” he added.

“As it became known, the Anglican Church plans to consider the idea of a gender-neutral God … Millions of people in the West understand they are being led to a real spiritual catastrophe.”

Putin says Russia has all the financial resources it needs to guarantee its national security and development despite sweeping economic sanctions imposed by the West over the war in Ukraine.

The Russian president said domestic companies had rebuilt their supply chains in response to the sanctions.

He added that Moscow was working with other countries to build new payment systems and financial architecture.

Putin has now been speaking for more than an hour, covering topics ranging from the war in Ukraine to what he says is a decadent West intent on subjugating Russia.

He is currently talking about domestic issues, including agriculture, scientific initiatives and infrastructure plans.

Putin says Russia is suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the United States.

The agreement is the last major pillar of post-Cold War nuclear arms control between the two countries and limits their strategic nuclear arsenals.

“I am forced to announce today that Russia is suspending its participation in the strategic offensive arms treaty,” Putin said in his state-of-the-nation address.

He added Russia needed to be ready to test nuclear weapons if the US moves to do so itself.

Russia’s president has now concluded his marathon state-of-the-nation address.

The speech, which lasted for nearly two hours, concluded with Putin promising that Russia would “respond to any challenges”.

“We are confident in our power. The truth is with us,” he said.

Putin’s audience in Moscow rose to their feet as the Russian national anthem played out at the conclusion of his address.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Brussels, says the New START treaty was the last of the big arms agreements that the United States had signed with Russia.

“In the days after the Cold War, there was a real effort from both … to reduce the number of their nuclear warheads,” Bays said from Brussels, where Ukraine’s foreign minister is meeting with European Union leaders.

“Obviously, arms negotiation has been much, much more difficult in recent years and NATO allies say that Russia wasn’t really complying with New START anyway,” he added.

“But it is interesting that Putin has decided to suspend participation in this treaty … and I think, probably, that’s for international consumption at this stage.

“I think there was an element of this speech that was aimed at the international community because although Europe seems to be very much on the same page with the US in terms of support for Ukraine, beyond Europe … when it comes to the issue of when should the war stop and when should there be negotiations many believe a ceasefire should come soon, if not now.

“That is the difference that Putin was potentially trying to exploit in his speech.”

Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned US ambassador Lynne Tracy over what it says is Washington’s increasingly “aggressive course”, accusing it of widening its involvement in the war in Ukraine.

“In this regard, the ambassador was told that the current aggressive course of the United States to deepen confrontation with Russia in all areas is counterproductive,” the ministry said.

There was no immediate public response from Washington to Moscow’s move.

Yuriy Vaskov, Ukraine’s depute infrastructure minister, has accused Russia of undermining the Black Sea grain deal designed to ensure Ukrainian food exports reach needy global markets.

“Since the end of October, the initiative has only been working at a maximum of 30 percent of its full capacity,” Vaskov told Al Jazeera from Kyiv.

“According to the deal, each vessel … should be inspected by the four parties to the initiative – Ukraine, the UN, Turkey and The Russian Federation – but since the end of October, the Russian Federation has decreased its number of inspection teams,” he added.

“Due to this reason, unfortunately since November we have an average of three vessels being inspected daily making inbound movements and the same number of inspections [being carried out] for vessels making outbound movements.”

Vaskov said negotiations on a renewal of the deal, which was signed in July last year and is set to expire in the middle of March, had already begun.

“Our expectation is not only for a prolonged initiative but for an increased number of inspections and … for the [extended] deal to be for a minimum of one year,” he added.

Australia’s government says it is aligned with 34 other nations on the call for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from its competitions, despite not being marked as a signatory to the statement.

The British government issued the joint statement on Monday on behalf of “more than 30 like-minded nations”, which held a summit addressed by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this month.

Australia was a signatory to two statements on the matter which were agreed upon by “35 like-minded nations” last year but was the only one of those countries not represented in Monday’s new pledge.

A spokesman for the Australian sports ministry told the Reuters news agency that Australia’s absence was an administrative error and that the government was in accord with the sentiments expressed in the statement.