President Putin: The West is preparing for a new war against Crimea and Donbass

According to TASS, speaking on the occasion of the anniversary of the annexation of the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia, President Vladimir Putin said that after 2014, the West had turned Ukraine into an “anti-Russian springboard”. Western countries “systematically sowed hatred and extreme nationalism, while supplying weapons, as well as sending mercenaries and advisers to Kiev”.

“Once again, just like in the spring and summer of 2014, the West is staging an offensive in the southeast. Not only Donbass, but also Crimea and other regions of Russia are being targeted,” the Russian president said.

In this regard, Mr. Putin stressed that the subsequent course of events “fully confirmed the necessity and validity of a special military operation, the true nature of which is liberation.”

Congratulating the people of the annexed region, President Putin said: “I sincerely congratulate all the people on this fateful day. We have experienced trials and hardships over the years. And we know how unbearable the conditions were for Donbass, under constant shelling and blockade for eight long years, and how the people were oppressed.”

The Russian leader stressed that Moscow did not “abandon its brothers and sisters” and was trying to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict. However, according to Mr. Putin, the peace talks ended “in deception from the West.”

President Putin added that reconstruction is currently underway in the Russian-controlled territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson: housing, hospitals, schools and kindergartens are being built there. Putin stressed that all regions of Russia are responsible and are actively involved in this reconstruction work; even large and small businesses are involved.