Russia not Seeking Ukraine's Surrender, Seeks Recognition of Situation on Ground - Putin

Ukraine should return to those fundamental values on the basis of which it has gained its sovereignty, including the country’s non-aligned status, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

«The grounds on which Ukraine became independent and sovereign were set out in the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine in 1991, where it is clearly written in black and white that Ukraine is a non-aligned, non-nuclear, neutral state. It would be nice to return to these fundamental values on which Ukraine gained its independence and sovereignty,» Putin said.

Russia is not questioning and has never questioned the Ukrainian people’s right to independence and sovereignty, the Russian leader said, adding that there are people in Ukraine who are striving for independence and sovereignty.

«I have said many times that I consider the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one people. In this sense, the whole of Ukraine is ours,» Putin added.

Russia’s calls for non-expansion of NATO to the east were ignored, and Moscow’s interests were neglected, Putin said.

«Since the early 90s, we have been told for decades that in no case, never, under any circumstances, will there be an expansion of NATO to the east. After that, we had five waves of expansion, we can say that we have already had six. And despite all our calls not to do this, all our calls were ignored …These are actions from a position of strength that disregard the interests of Russia,» Putin said.

Putin calls ignoring Russia’s calls for non-expansion of NATO a vestige of ancient neocolonial policy, saying that the tragedy in Ukraine is the result of the work of those who are not ready to accept global changes in the world.

Russia’s actions in Ukraine after the coup were aimed at protecting the population that was spiritually connected with Russia, Putin said.

«A state-sponsored, bloody, unconstitutional coup in Ukraine. What is this? This is also an action from a position of strength. And the former US administration bluntly said that it had spent billions of dollars on this coup. They did not hesitate to say so publicly. And our actions were aimed at protecting a part of the population that has ties of blood and considered itself spiritually connected with Russia,» Putin said.

Russia tried to «glue the situation together» with the Minsk agreements and resolve the issue with Ukraine peacefully, Putin explained.

Russia has always advocated for ensuring the security of each country without compromising the security of another, said Vladimir Putin.

«Russia has always, I want to emphasize this, advocated for ensuring the security of each country without compromising the security of another,» Putin said.

At the same time, the situation in the conflict zone in the Middle East is completely different from that in Ukraine, the president added.

The Russian city of St. Petersburg is hosting the 28th edition of SPIEF from June 18-21 under the theme of «Shared Values: The Foundation of Growth in a Multipolar World.» Rossiya Segodnya international media group, Sputnik’s parent company, is the forum’s information partner.