Putin spoke during the Victory Day parade to justify his actions.

On Monday, Russia held its annual military parade in celebration of “Victory Day,” a holiday marking the Soviet Union’s part in the defeat of the Nazi regime in World War II. Prior to this event, analysts were expecting Putin to use the holiday to announce full war deployment in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Putin did not announce any escalation of conflict, though he did give a speech defending his decision to continue the invasion, claiming the fault lies with western countries.

“Russia called on the West for an honest dialogue, to search for reasonable, compromise solutions, to take into account each other’s interests. All in vain. The NATO countries did not want to hear us, which means that in fact they had completely different plans,” Putin said. “The danger grew every day. Russia gave a pre-emptive rebuff to aggression. It was a forced, timely and the only right decision. The decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country.”

Putin claimed that he had been forced to take military action due to western nations allegedly planning military operations in the Donbas region of Ukraine. “The NATO bloc has begun active military development of the territories adjacent to us. Thus, a threat that is absolutely unacceptable to us was systematically created, moreover, directly at our borders,” Putin said.

Following Putin’s speech, United Kingdom defense secretary Ben Wallace chimed in, dismissing Putin’s claims. “I think he is believing what he wants to believe — a slight shine of desperation,” he said “But let me put on the record categorically: NATO, Britain, eastern Europe is not planning to invade Russia and never has done.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also commented, saying that his country had its own successful campaign against Nazis, and that they would succeed again in repelling the Russian invasion.