While the West wants to improve its geopolitical positions, Russia is fighting for the survival of its own statehood, the Russian president said.
“After 2014, they began to simply physically eliminate those who came to the plane for the development of normal relations with Russia,” declared Putin, referring to Kiev.
According to the Russian president, Russia has been trying to build good relations with Ukraine for decades. “The situation changed fundamentally in 2014, when the Ukrainians carried out a coup d’état with the help of the West,” he stated.
For eight years, he pondered a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Donets basin, but Russia was “led by the nose”, he said. He called for unity and expressed his belief that the war would end with a Russian victory.
Regarding the Western sanctions, he stated that the West’s hopes regarding the collapse of the Russian economy were not fulfilled. On the contrary, as he said, the situation turned out surprisingly well for Russia, becoming “much more sovereign and independent”. The companies that left were quickly replaced by others.
In connection with the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Russian president believed that they were carried out “at the state level”. The assumption that they were committed by an independent pro-Ukraine organization is “absolutely impossible,” he added.
“The act of terrorism was quite obviously committed at the state level, because amateurs cannot carry out such an action,” he declared.
According to Putin, it is possible to repair the two gas pipelines, but this requires time, tools and new technology, as this type of work has never been done before in international practice.
Cover image: Contributor/Getty Images
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