Russian President sets conditions for negotiations with Ukraine.
(Baonghean.vn) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has set a condition that if Ukraine wants to begin peace talks with Russia, Kyiv must revoke the decree banning negotiations and declare its readiness to engage in dialogue with Moscow.
In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV), the Russian leader emphasized: "The President of Ukraine has issued a decree banning negotiations with us... How can you negotiate if they don't want to, and even if they have issued a document prohibiting these negotiations?"
President Putin also cited the US's attempt to draw Kyiv into NATO as the reason for the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian leader noted that his country has done everything to pursue a path toward resolving the conflict.
"But no, they weren't even allowed to do that. Moreover, the Ukrainian leaders ultimately just declared that they didn't like the Minsk Agreement and wouldn't implement it," President Putin added.
He reiterated that Ukraine was founded on the declaration of independence.
"The main tenet of that declaration of independence stipulated that Ukraine was a neutral country. But no, back in 2008, for some reason, even before any credit was granted, they declared that Ukraine was welcome to join NATO. Why? To this day, no one understands. And so, year after year, the situation has only gotten more heated," Putin remarked.
He criticized NATO's expansion.
"We were informed by the then-US administration in 1991 that NATO would not expand eastward. Then came five expansions. And each time we expressed our concerns, and each time they told us: 'Oh, yes, we promised you we wouldn't expand NATO eastward,' but those were verbal promises, where are the signed documents? No documents, right? Well, goodbye then. You see, it's very difficult to have a dialogue with people like that," Putin asserted.
Also in this interview, President Putin said that the mistakes in Ukraine in 2014 needed to be rectified not through fighters, but through democratic procedures, but the West deployed military action through Kyiv.
He said: "The fighting in Ukraine did not begin with our military campaign, but much earlier – in 2014, when Western countries, acting as guarantors of agreements between President (Viktor) Yanukovich and the opposition, literally forgot their assurances just days later. Furthermore, they instigated the coup (in Ukraine)."
