Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed Wednesday that «everything» Russia does is aimed at «putting an end to the war» that broke out in 2014 in the Donbas region (east).
«Large-scale hostilities in the Donbas have not stopped since 2014. Everything we do today, including the special military operation, is an attempt to stop this war,» he said. «That is the meaning of our operation,» he has added, Russian Interfax news agency has reported.
Thus, Putin has emphasized that among the objectives is «to protect the people living in those territories». «We held out for a long time, we tried to reach an agreement for a long time. As you can see now, we were deceived,» he said, before stressing that Moscow «has done everything possible to resolve the situation by peaceful means, although it was obvious that this was impossible».
Putin made these statements during a meeting with World War II veterans in St. Petersburg, hours after laying a wreath in memory of the Soviet soldiers assigned to the defense of Leningrad during the invasion of Nazi Germany.
The Russian president gave orders to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022, days after recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Moscow announced in September the annexation of these Ukrainian regions, together with Kherson and Zaporiyia, all partially occupied in the framework of the war.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
