Sochi – Russia had no guarantees that Ukraine would not join NATO, and Moscow could not allow a historical part of the Russian territory - the Crimean peninsula - "to be incorporated" into this military alliance, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
“I want everyone to understand this clearly. We conducted an exclusively diplomatic and peaceful dialogue – I want to stress this – with our partners in Europe and the United States. In response to our attempts to hold such a dialogue and to negotiate an acceptable solution, they supported the anti-constitutional state coup in Ukraine, and following that we could not be sure that Ukraine would not become part of the North Atlantic military bloc,” Putin said in an interview with the French media.
“In that situation, we could not allow a historical part of the Russian territory with a predominantly ethnic Russian population to be incorporated into an international military alliance, especially because Crimeans wanted to be part of Russia. I am sorry, but we couldn’t act differently,” he said.
Moscow remains concerned over the possibility of NATO’s military infrastructure approaching the Russian borders because of Ukraine, Putin said.
“Regarding Ukraine and military blocs, this is what worries us, because if Ukraine joins, say, NATO, NATO’s infrastructure will move directly towards the Russian border, which cannot leave us indifferent,” the Russian president said.
“Joining any military bloc or any other rigid integration alliance amounts to a partial loss of sovereignty. But if a country opts for this and wants to cede part of its sovereignty, it’s free to do so,” he said.
Putin also reaffirmed that Russia recognizes Ukraine’s sovereignty, adding that “in accordance with the expression of the will of people who live there, Crimea is part of the Russian Federation and its constituent entity.”
