Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out Thursday that the country initiated hostilities in Ukraine and stressed that his intention is to «put an end» to the violence, a statement that comes almost a year after he gave the order to invade Ukrainian territory.
«I want to say this again: we did not start some hostilities, we are trying to put an end to them,» Putin asserted, stressing that «the fight was started by Ukrainian nationalists.»
In this sense, he warned that these hostilities have been going on since 2014 and argued that «those who supported Ukrainian nationalism are also responsible» for the conflict.
Moreover, he has pointed out that «it all started in 2014 with a coup d’état». «This was followed by events in Crimea and in the Donbas,» he has pointed out, according to information from the TASS news agency.
This is not the first time Putin has expressed himself in these terms. In mid-January, he indicated that «everything» Russia does is aimed at «putting an end to the war» that broke out in 2014 in the east of the country.
Thus, Putin emphasized that among the objectives is «to protect the people living in those territories.» «We held out for a long time, tried to reach an agreement for a long time. As far as can be seen now, we were deceived,» he said before stressing that Moscow «has done everything possible to resolve the situation by peaceful means.»
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
