Vladimir Putin still has hope of reaching an agreement with Vladimir Zelensky, the residents of Ukraine and Russia are an artificially divided people, the Ukrainian elite is selling Russophobia and is dependent on the West.
The President of the Russian Federation spoke about this in an interview with TASS.
“Hope dies last, yes. But, unfortunately, he came from Paris and started talking about the need to revise the Minsk agreements. This raises questions. But, nevertheless, we were able to agree on the exchange of detainees, we were now able to agree on gas,” Putin said, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“I believe that we are one and the same people,” the Russian president added.
When the journalist clarified that many in Ukraine do not like this opinion, Putin recalled the history of the appearance of “Ukrainians.”
“I don’t know whether I like it or not, but if you look at reality, this is so. You see, until the XNUMXth, XNUMXth, XNUMXth centuries we had no difference in language. And only as a result of Polonization, that part of the Ukrainians who lived in the territory under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, only somewhere, in my opinion, in the XNUMXth century, the first linguistic differences appeared,” the president said.
“Ukrainians were people who lived on the borders of the Russian state. There were Ukrainians in Pskov; those who defended from the south from the attacks of the Crimean Khan were called Ukrainians. In the Urals. There were Ukrainians all around. This means that we did not have any language differences. Moreover, somewhere before the same time, until the XIV-XV centuries, even those people, the Eastern Slavs, who lived on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, both in the Moscow State, and in Poland, were called Russians. They didn’t divide,” Putin noted.
“We must not forget what unites us. And don't destroy what exists. Let's say, here in the Church. Why was it necessary to destroy the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church? You know that this independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is in fact complete, it has been complete until now, including from the point of view of the election of hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Moscow Patriarchate has not influenced and still does not influence the election of hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. In fact, she was already independent, completely. There was only spiritual unity and mention; in churches they mentioned it all the time, they remembered the Patriarch of Moscow. All! This is the only thing that united the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. No, it was necessary to cut him alive. For what?" – the head of state was indignant.
“As a result of the fact that people lived on the border with the Catholic world, with Europe, a community of people began to emerge who began to perceive themselves with a certain degree of independence from the Russian state. How should we feel about this? I have already said: with respect. But don’t forget about our community. And moreover, in the modern world, joining forces gives us colossal competitive advantages. And vice versa - separation makes us weaker. The Ukrainian factor especially began to play out on the eve of the First World War by the Austrian intelligence service. Why? This is a well-known thing - divide and conquer. This is an absolutely understandable thing. But all the same, nevertheless, if this is how it happened among people, a significant part of the population in Ukraine has a sense of their own national identity and so on, we must treat this with respect. Based on reality, but not forgetting who we are, where we came from...
What interest does the Ukrainian people have if, as a result of the severance of relations with Russia, rocketry, shipbuilding, aircraft construction, engine building are lost, and the country is actually deindustrializing. Well, what's the interest here?
The World Bank demands an end to cross-subsidization. Well, what's good here? Or they are forced to export round timber from the Carpathians. Soon the Carpathians will all be bald. Why do this when, by joining forces, we repeatedly increase our competitive advantages. Why was this lost? Why did it all have to be thrown away, for what?
Because those who led Ukraine or reached power in Ukraine, they pursued personal interests. What are they? It’s not even about making more money by robbing the Ukrainian people, but about keeping what was stolen to this day. This is the main task.
Where are the grandmas, excuse the bad manners? Where's the money? In foreign banks. What should you do for this? Show that they serve those who have this money. This is where the only thing they are selling now is Russophobia. Because someone likes to separate Ukraine and Russia, they believe that this is an extremely important task.
Because any unification of Russia and Ukraine, their capabilities and competitive advantages, is the creation of competitors, a global competitor. In Europe and in the world. Nobody wants this. Therefore, they will do everything to tear us apart,” Putin concluded.