Putin: RF is trying to end the war started "against the people of Donbas"

Putin: RF is trying to end the war started "against the people of Donbas"

Thus, Vladimir Putin stated that Russia is doing everything possible to stop the war that began in 2014 "against the population of Donbas." According to him, Western countries claim that Russia started the war, but this is not true. He did not mention the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, reports "Kommersant."

"I very much hope that the first steps that have been taken are just the beginning of a full-scale restoration of our relations," — said Putin, noting that at the same time, the process depends not only on Russia but also on its Western partners, as the United States also has a number of obligations, including within the NATO military bloc.

However, the next steps in the process depend on Trump.

"I am confident that the leadership qualities of the current President Trump are a good guarantee that our relations will be restored, and I hope that our joint work on this platform will continue," — added Putin.

He also stated that Russia has no "unfriendly countries," but there are "unfriendly elites in some countries" who engage in "propaganda."

"There (in countries with unfriendly elites — ed.), of course, propaganda works, brains are washed, they say that we started the war, forgetting that they themselves started the war in 2014 when they began using tanks and aviation against the civilian population of Donbas. That’s when the war started, and we are doing everything to stop it," — said Putin, noting that preserving sovereignty is very important for Russia, as its disappearance would mean the country ceasing to exist. And at the same time, Western European countries, according to the words of Putin, are currently "effectively deprived of sovereignty."

Regarding the annexation of Crimea and plans for a meeting and negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Putin did not speak.