Putin: Europe is responsible for war in Ukraine
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin called the war he launched against Ukraine "a pain for Russians." He cynically justified the invasion and blamed NATO for everything.
He said this during a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, according to Russian media, Censor.NET reported.
"Unfortunately, the hostilities (in) Ukraine have not yet been stopped, but responsibility for this lies primarily with Europe. Europe constantly escalates the conflict; they have no other goals. If NATO had not come closer to Russia’s borders, the conflict (in) Ukraine could have been avoided. If Trump had been in power, the conflict could have been avoided," the Kremlin leader claimed.
Putin also dismissed as nonsense the "mantra" of European politicians about a possible war with Russia.
"Is Russia planning to attack NATO? This nonsense is impossible to believe! We have never initiated military confrontations ourselves. But if someone wants to challenge Russia, let them try. I would say: calm down, sleep well, and finally deal with your own problems… We are closely watching Europe’s accelerating militarization. Either it is just talk, or it is time for us to take appropriate measures," he said.
The Russian dictator hypocritically stated that "it is painful for Russians to watch the suffering" of Ukrainians: "The Ukrainian tragedy is a pain for Ukrainians, for Russians, for all of us."
According to him, "the work to create a security zone on the Russia-Ukraine border is proceeding as planned."
