President Putin: Russia sought peaceful solution in Ukraine

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that Moscow is seeking a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine, while stressing that the West has deceived the Kremlin and is preparing Kiev for a confrontation.

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In statements to national media, the President pointed out that “we assumed that we could solve all problems peacefully, while he said that Moscow never sought confrontation.

In this sense, Putin specified: “Now we see it: they simply deceived us, none of our so-called partners wanted to solve anything peacefully, but they simply handed over arms to Ukraine and prepared them for hostilities.”

With regard to the possibility of initiating the special military operation in 2014 in the coup in Kiev, the head of state pointed out that “in these cases there is no subjunctive mood (…) this also applies to our readiness for any action more serious than the so-called Crimean spring”.

Accordingly, he emphasized that “we simply could not refuse our support or our protection to the people of Crimea. They were already being attacked by the Nazis, as the Ukrainians say, and it was our sacred duty to protect them.”

In return, he added: “We have a lot to do, say, for the development of ground forces, but in 2014 we didn’t have hypersonic weapons and now we have them. We don’t really use them, but they are there. Do you understand it?”

Putin’s statements come after his visit to the city of Mariupol, where he personally inspected the reconstruction work, assessed the state of infrastructure and maintained contact with residents.