Russian President Vladimir Putin is glad he did not exercise his right granted by the Federation Council to use the Armed Force in Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference after talks with the Austrian
president in Vienna on June 24, he recalled that his request was
forwarded to the upper house of the Russian parliament at a time when
events started to unfold around Crimea.
“As you know, we did not use our Armed Forces literally for
hostilities, thank God. Moreover, we did not even exceed the army
numbers envisaged by international treaties. In that sense, the Russian
president did not exercise the right granted to him by the upper house
of the parliament,” Putin said.
He admitted that “we did use our armed formations to ensure free vote
in Crimea and to block certain armed formations of the Ukrainian army
so as to prevent them from interfering with the voting process and to
prevent casualties.”
“But from the viewpoint of tactical deployment, no use of Russian Armed Forces has taken place. Thank God for that,” Putin said.
