Putin Accuses Western 'Enemies' of Building New Iron Curtain Around Russia

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday used his annual address to the nation to accuse Western "enemies" of trying to build a new iron curtain around Russia — and insist the annexation of Crimea was the rightful reclamation of a holy site akin to Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

Speaking in a colossal, white marble hall in the Kremlin to an audience of over 1,000 people — Putin claimed Western governments were trying to weaken Russia as they feared its power. "The policy of containment was not invented yesterday," he said. "Every time when anyone only thinks Russia has become strong, independent, such instruments are applied immediately."

In a speech heavily focused on the ongoing tumult in Ukraine, Putin held up Russia as a defender of freedom and of truth in the face of international lies. He said: "We will stand up for the diversity of the world. We will deliver truth to people abroad… And we will do this even in those cases when governments of some countries are trying to build around Russia something next to a new Iron Curtain."

Speaking of east Ukraine, where a Moscow-fueled battle is raging between pro-Russia separatists and the government in Kiev, Putin stressed the territory's "inalienable sovereign right to determine its own development path."

He referred to the ouster of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February as an "armed coup" that Russia was morally obliged to resist. "How can the subsequent attempts to suppress people in Ukraine's southeast, who oppose this mayhem, be supported?"

Putin also lauded the "historical reunification of Crimea and Sevastopol with Russia." The union, he said, was not only of geopolitical significance — but was of "sacral importance," since Crimea is the ancient site where "Grand Prince Vladimir was baptised before bringing Christianity to Rus."

Putin likened Crimea's spiritual significance to Russia to that of Temple Mount — or al-Haram al-Sharif — in Jerusalem for Jews and Muslims.

Yet turning to the domestic front, the speech, reportedly written by the president himself, also alluded to tough times ahead for ordinary Russians. Indeed, a cocktail of Ukraine-inspired financial sanctions and tumbling oil prices has wrecked the Russian economy — to the tune of some $140 billion in losses, according to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

The ruble has lost around 40 percent of its value against the dollar since January. Capital flight is rife and rampant. Russian banks have been isolated from international markets. Inflation is creeping up towards 10 percent. And the entire country is on the brink of recession.

With respect to the economy, Putin proposed "inspection holidays" for some small businesses — to exempt them from "planned checks on the state and local levels." He also advocated "a full amnesty for returning capital to Russia," so that investors bringing capital back to Moscow "won't be bothered… won't be asked about the sources… there will be no questions from the tax and law enforcement bodies."

Putin emphasized that Russia — "a mature and united nation and a truly sovereign and strong state" — has the strength to "withstand" these ongoing "trials."

He looked back to moments in the past in which foreign "enemies" had tried to break up the Russian state - and failed. In the 90s, Putin charged, Western governments tried to orchestrate a "Yugoslav scenario" in Russia: precipitating the country's "disintegration at the hands of separatists." Before that, "Hitler also failed when, with his hateful ideas, he was going to destroy Russia, throw us back behind the Urals. Everyone should remember how it ended."

He did not, however, make mention of another seminal moment in Russian history with some less reassuring parallels: the economic collapse of the mid-1980s that set the stage for perestroika — and ultimately heralded the swift downfall of the Soviet Union.

Follow Katie Engelhart on Twitter: @katieengelhart