The fighting in Ukraine began after a coup d'état. Russia was not the initiator. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with sailors from the submarine "Arkhangelsk".
“We were not the authors and initiators of the outbreak of hostilities. They began after the coup d'état in Ukraine in 2014, which was supported by Western countries. And then hostilities actually began in the southeastern part of Ukraine“, the president said.
Putin stressed that Russia has been trying to resolve the Ukrainian issue by peaceful means for eight years. "We were forced to take Crimea and the Crimeans, the residents of Sevastopol under our protection, and for a very long time and persistently tried to resolve the problems related to Donbas and Lugansk by peaceful means," he added.
“For eight years, the people who lived in the territory of Donbas, Lugansk and Donetsk were subjected to genocide in the literal sense of the word. The Western curators of the Ukrainian regime preferred not to notice this. This forced us to make an attempt to stop the war that began in 2014 by armed means. We did not start it,“ the head of state summed up.
Putin said that the Russian armed forces can defeat the Ukrainian troops.
“I recently said: “We will finish them off“. There is reason to believe that we will finish them,“ said the head of state, talking to sailors from the submarine “Arkhangelsk“.
Putin added that the realization of this fact must come “from the Ukrainian people themselves“.
“In my opinion, the newly elected US president sincerely wants to end this conflict,“ noted the Russian leader.
Russia is in favor of resolving the Ukrainian conflict by peaceful means, but on condition that the root causes are eliminated.
Putin visited the Murmansk region on Thursday. He held a meeting on the development of the Arctic, got acquainted with the master plans for northern settlements and spoke at an Arctic forum.
The strongman in the Kremlin visited the submarine cruiser “Arkhangelsk“ and launched the nuclear submarine “Perm“, which will become the standard carrier of the hypersonic cruise missile “Zircon“.
Putin appointed the commander of the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy Mikhail Gudkov as deputy commander of the Russian Navy.
The Russian president launched the first loading of the Lavna coal terminal in the Murmansk region.
The project is being implemented on the western coast of the Kola Bay within the boundaries of the port of Murmansk. It will provide direct access to the World Ocean without passing through international straits. The Lavna port is being created, and a coal processing complex is being built in it.
The authorities expect that the project will help both in the development of navigation along the Northern Sea Route and in the development of new logistics routes for trade with friendly countries.
„The opening of the terminal will be a good contribution to increasing the capacity of our Arctic ports and creating additional opportunities for the coal mining industry,“ the president added.