<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>The world is probably entering the "most dangerous" decade since the end of World War II, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday, presenting the Ukraine conflict as part of a wider struggle against western domination.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Arguing that Western dominance in global affairs was coming to an end, Putin insisted Russia was not just challenging the West but fighting for its own right to exist.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Putin was speaking as Ukrainian troops reclaim more territory that Moscow has annexed as its own, and has mobilised more troops to defend.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and at the same time important decade since the end of the Second World War," Putin told members of the annual Valdai Discussion Club, in a lengthy question-and-answer session.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The situation was "to a certain extent revolutionary", he said, describing the Ukraine offensive as simply part of the "tectonic shifts of the entire world order".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The historical period of undivided dominance of the West in world affairs is coming to an end," said Putin. "The unipolar world is becoming a thing of the past.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the West was still "desperately" trying to govern humanity, it was not able to. "Most peoples of the world no longer want to put up with it," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the Russian president characterised the current crisis as a battle for survival for Russia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Russia is not challenging the elites of the West, Russia is just trying to defend its right to exist," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- 'Dirty bomb' row -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Putin also returned to the row over Russian allegations that Ukraine was preparing to use a "dirty bomb" against its soldiers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kyiv was "doing everything to cover up traces of this preparation" for such a bomb, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), responding to the allegations, said it regularly visited two sites that Moscow had raised questions over.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The UN agency's inspectors had found nothing untoward and were preparing to visit again in the coming days, the statement added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We are in favour," said Putin. "And it should be done as fast as possible."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A dirty bomb is a conventional bomb laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials which are disseminated in an explosion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over the past week, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has repeated the claims regarding a Ukrainian dirty bomb in conversations with his counterparts in France, the US, the UK, China and India.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">France, the US and the UK have all rejected the claim, and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has warned that Russia might be trying to use the claim as a "pretext" for escalation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kyiv meanwhile, has said it suspects Russia might itself use a dirty bomb in a "false flag" attack.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But Putin said Thursday using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would "make no sense at all to us -- either in political or military terms".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- Stalled talks -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier Thursday, the Kremlin said Ukraine had pulled out of peace talks with Moscow back in March on orders from Washington.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The text was ready... And then suddenly the Ukrainian side went off the radar, the Ukrainian side declared its unwillingness to continue negotiations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Talks between Kyiv and Moscow have stalled since March, each side blaming the other for the stalemate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Zelensky on Wednesday dismissed any possibility of talks with Moscow, denouncing Putin's "planned rhetoric". In late September, he said he would not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin was president.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia's "special operation" in Ukraine has met with repeated setbacks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Putin has in recent weeks changed his military commander there after Kyiv's forces launched a counter-offensive, recapturing territory in the east.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last week, Putin introduced martial law in four Ukrainian regions that he has declared annexed: Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Lugansk.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The annexation announcement came in late September, despite Moscow's forces not controlling some of the regions fully. Most recently, for example, there has been fierce fighting in the eastern region of Donetsk.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian-installed authorities in Ukraine's occupied region of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday ordered phone checks on local residents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Anyone subscribed to "propaganda resources of the terrorist Kyiv regime" would receive a warning, before being fined. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>