Russian President Vladimir Putin, has denied any wrongdoing in the ongoing attack on Ukraine, saying the West deceived and pushed Ukraine to war with his country.
In a statement on his Facebook page, on Friday, Putin said,
“We want peace! We wanted to talk and negotiate. According to the Minsk agreements, we gave Ukraine a chance to reintegrate the republics of Donbass. Ukraine only needed to stop shooting at residential areas and listen to people that are living there. We wanted to talk to Europe and the United States, but in response we faced only neglect of our questions.
“All these years, the West supported the Ukrainian regime, pushing it to war with Russia. All these years we asked not to arm our neighbors, because these weapons are used against civilians in Donbass. Our opinion was ignored. At our border, they created a NATO bridgehead, the circle around us narrowed, while we continued to be strangled by sanctions for things that Russia did not do.
“We did not annex Crimea — the referendum was held so it returned to us. We did not fight in the Donbass — it was the Civil War in Ukraine. But now Ukraine has launched an attack on the republics of Donbass which are recognized by Russia. And the President of Ukraine at an international forum declares his desire to possess nuclear weapons in order to threaten Russia.
“The Ukrainian people are fraternal people for Russians, but their leadership and the United States lead them into the abyss, preaching hate for Russia.
“We will help to free the brotherly people of Ukraine. Ukraine will be free and independent. And friendly to Russia. We want the United States to retreat from our borders and to stop considering Ukraine its puppet.
“Our operation is peacekeeping and is aimed only at the demilitarization of a neighboring country. None of the civilians of the brotherly country should suffer!
“We are for peace! No to war! But we have to force peace and calm down the aggressors.”