KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – FRIDAY, 17 JUNE 2022, 20:00
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that the Soviet Union is historical Russian territory.
Source: Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum; video from the forum posted by RIA Novosti
Quote: “What is the Soviet Union? It’s historical Russia. As it happens, it ceased to exist. And I want to emphasise that in recent history we have always treated the processes of sovereignisation that have occurred in the post-Soviet area with respect.”
Details: Putin claimed that Russia has “brotherly” relations with Kazakhstan and is interested in strengthening those relations. “Who would ever think of spoiling relations with Kazakhstan?” he asked.
He also made it clear 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.
Quote: “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 anybody…
And, by the way, there would have been no Crimea 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, it would never have occurred to anybody to start all this.”
Background: The USSR comprised the present-day territories of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Moldova, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan and Estonia.
