KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2022, 8:00 p.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Soviet Union is historical Russian territory.
Source: Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum; forum video published by RIA Novosti
Quotation: “What is the Soviet Union? This is historical Russia. In this case, it has ceased to exist. And I want to emphasize that in recent history we have always treated with respect the sovereignization processes that occurred in the post-Soviet zone.
Details: Putin claimed that Russia had “brotherly” relations with Kazakhstan and wanted to strengthen those relations. “Who would ever dream of ruining relations with Kazakhstan? He asked.
He also clarified that there would have been no Russian aggression in Ukraine and no occupation of Crimea if there had been ‘good relations’ and ‘partnership’ between Ukraine and Russia. .
Quotation: “It would have been the same with Ukraine, absolutely. If we had had good allied relations, or at least a partnership between us, it would never have occurred to anyone…
And, by the way, there would have been no Crimean problem. Because if the rights of the people who live there, the Russian-speaking population, had been respected, if the Russian language and culture had been treated with respect, nobody would have thought to start all this.”
Background: The USSR included the present territories of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Estonia.
