Putin Accuses U.s. Of Escalating World Conflicts

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. on Friday of endangering the international order by trying to “remake the whole world” for its own, exclusive interests, and he predicted that Ukraine would not be the last conflict to embroil the major powers. Putin charged that the U.S. has escalated world conflicts by “unilateral diktat” and by imposing sanctions that he said were aimed at pushing Russia toward “economic weakness,” while he denied that Russia aspires to rebuild an empire or reclaim its Cold War-era stature as a superpower. “We did not start this,” Putin said of the worsening world climate.