You're reading: Putin Q&A live blog: Putin threatens to shut off gas to Ukraine, calls eastern Ukraine “Novorussiya,” says presidential elections cannot be considered legitimate

Editor's Note: Today, April 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a question and answer session on live television. The Kyiv Post will be live blogging the event, which lasted for 4 hours and 48 minutes last year. 

Putin threatens to stop gas flows to Ukraine, rebukes NATO expansion, calls eastern Ukraine “Novorussiya,” says Russia has “to defend those people”

Russian President Vladimir Putin

2:42 p.m. — Putin ignored a question about a new law adopted in the Russian parliament that increases the punishment for separatist activity. The law comes into force on May 9, Victory Day, which is the annual celebration of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, and Russia’s most important patriotic holiday. 

Asked about EU and U.S.-Russia relations, Putin said that although Russia should pursue closer ties with the west, it should not have to abandon its own interests to do so.

We are for good relations with West but that does not mean we should give up on our interests to preserve these good relations,” said Putin

Putin said that Russia “had been pushed to the wall and had no space to step back so we had to make the decision on Crimea.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

2:01 p.m. — Putin called American foreign
policy hypocritical, saying there is “no logic” in it. He said that the US-Russia misunderstanding comes from double standards and a lack
of logic…The US can interfere in Syria and Libya but Russia cannot defend its
rights and interests?”

He said that the Russian people understand this American
hypocrisy.

Putin continued that Russia will not “spoil our relationships with Europe. This is not our aim
and we hope this is not the aim of our European colleagues.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

1:55 p.m. —  Putin
threatened to turn off the gas to Ukraine next month if the government in Kyiv
does not start paying off its debts. He said that in addition to paying
Ukraine up front for the right to host its Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol,
Russia “gave $3 billion to Ukraine and cut gas prices again…we got paid in
January, only a half in February, and nothing in March.”

He
said that Russia is “not insisting on being paid right away; we are ready to wait
for another month. But if no payments come in, we’ll switch to a prepaid
system.” 

At the beginning of April, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hinted that Russia
might switch to such a system if Ukraine does not pay off its gas debts. — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

1:39 p.m. — As
sanctions hit top Russian politicians and businessmen, and international
organizations suspend their cooperation with Russia, Putin said that Russia
would not insist on being in any world organization.

He
said that Russia still makes large contributions to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe, which suspended Russia’s voting rights last week, but
“if they don’t want us, fine.”

Putin
continued, “I am not saying we are going to isolate ourselves…I think there is
an attempt to make me a target for sanctions, as well as my friends.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

1:00 p.m. — Dmitry
Kiselev, the provocative Kremlin mouthpiece who said that Russia could turn the
U.S. into “radioactive dust,” expressed concern about NATO expansion, telling Putin: NATO is
growing like a cancer…they already want Georgia and Ukraine.”

Putin
responded: “I wouldn’t be scared, but we must understand the situation. We were promised
that after the union of Germany NATO wouldn’t expand. But it kept growing…when
NATO borders come closer to our border we think we need to do something.”

He added that the annexation of Crimea was connected to NATO’s expansion eastward. We thought that if we didn’t do anything there would
be a day when they would drag Ukraine into NATO. And then Russia would be pushed
out of the region that is very important for our country.

He assured viewers that “there is no reason
to fear, but we should react in a reasonable way…And I am telling you we’ll do
everything to ensure the safety of the Russian nation.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

12:40 p.m. — Putin has announced that the May 25 Ukrainian presidential elections cannot be considered legitimate because of the current unrest in the eastern part of the country, noting, “eastern candidates are being beaten and not allowed to meet people…And according to constitution – if it is not changed – Ukraine cannot hold elections if there is a living, legitimate president.”

Although Putin insists that disgraced former President Yanukovych remains the legitimate president of Ukraine, he said in March that Yanukovych was politically dead.

Rumors have been circulating over the past several days that Yanukovych may return to Ukraine as soon as April 20, Easter Sunday. — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

12:28 p.m. — When asked by a resident of Irkutsk, “Do you plan to send in troops to Eastern Ukraine?” Putin responded, “We should say in reality, that ethnic people in eastern Ukraine are different from those in Crimea. There it is 50/50. We do not know for sure what they want there.”

He continued that Russia has “to defend those people and defend their right to make their choice. I remind you that the Russian parliament gave the president the right to use Russian troops in Ukraine, but I still hope we won’t have to.”

He emphasized, “Russia did not annex Crimea by force. Russia only created conditions under which people could make their decision,” suggesting that Russia could do the same thing in eastern Ukraine. Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

12:19 p.m. — Putin brought up imperial Russian history, saying that some territories in eastern Ukraine had been given to Ukraine by Catherine the Great’s close advisor Grigory Potemkin, calling them “Novorussiya.” 

Coincidentally, a map found in the Kyiv Communist Party headquarters last week showing Ukraine partitioned into four regions described a southern province as “Novorussiya.” 

The map of Ukraine shows it splintered into four parts: Republic of Crimea, Republic of Donbas in the east, Republic of Dneprovsko-Slobozhansk in the northeast, Republic of Novorossiya in the south and Ukraine.

Putin added, “Fine, they are in Ukraine now. But those people need guarantees,” hinting that Russia may be obligated to provide protection.

Speaking about Russia’s pivot east, Putin recognized that “China will become state number one…the only question is when. So of course we will develop Russia-China relationships. We have never had military cooperation but we have finally started developing even that.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

12:03 p.m. — Yuriy Abisov, a Berkut officer from Crimea, spoke about his experience during the revolution in Kyiv: “Our unit was in Kyiv when [the people on the] Maidan took power from Yanukovych. We were fired at, tens of our people were injured and many died. We had an order not to kill. Then we just stopped getting orders. They gave up on us.”

Putin: “[Yanukovych] told me: ‘I thought many times about using force, but my hand didn’t rise to sign [such] an order.’ What you have done is great and worthy of respect. I know that Berkut officers in hospital did not get even food…I am not even talking about treatment. But after all is said and done, I am sure all the people will understand how much you have done for the peace of your country.

Question: “Yanukovych ran away. Would you stay to fight for your country?”

Putin: “He didn’t run away. He left Kyiv for the regions. But just as he left Kyiv the presidential administration building and government were taken over.”

Later, Putin tried to ensure viewers that Russia’s relationship with Ukraine remains strong:  “We are natural neighbors and natural allies, though we are not negotiating anything like a political-military alliance” currently. — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

11:46 a.m. — Putin has admitted that there were Russian troops in Crimea before and during the March 16 referendum: “Of course we had to ensure that the referendum was honest. So yes, our troops stood behind the Crimean self-defense fighters.” 

One caller from Crimea complained that “Ukraine is doing everything possible to make our lives miserable.” Now all the banks are leaving Crimea. What can you do to fix it?”

Putin responded, “We are trying to negotiate, but unfortunately they do not want to give in. Privat Bank and Oshchad bank have not wanted to negotiate thus far. We think it means we have to move onto the ruble [in Crimea] even faster than was [initially] planned.”

He promised that the standard of living of residents of Crimea will increase as a result of the annexation: “The pensions will be twice as large.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

11:33 a.m. — When asked about the newly acquired Sevastopol naval base in Crimea, Putin said that a “big part of our fleet will be transferred to Sevastopol. And Sevastopol has great potential for shipbuilding.”

One woman in Sevastopol asked: “The borders came between our families and we stopped understanding each other. How do you ensure that we Ukrainian and Russians will remain brothers?

Putin responded: This is an important question. Sometimes it is easier to make peace in one family than between two countries.” So Ukraine and Russia must “try and respect each other. People in Ukraine should try to respect the choice that Crimea has made…Russia has been with Ukraine for decades and will be with Ukraine forever.”

In response, people in Sevastopol chanted “thank you!” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb

11:15 a.m. — Putin denied Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine, saying “there are no Russian special forces in eastern Ukraine. This is nonsense. Those are local people, who took off their masks. This is their land, they have nowhere else to go and they will fight.”Speaking about the Russian annexation of Crimea in March, Putin noted that “there was a real danger for Russian-speaking people” there. 

Putin promised that the Russian leadership “never planned any annexation. We built our policy with Ukraine based on reality. But when the danger for people in Crimea became real…This operation wasn’t planned at all. But was done very professionally. Our task was to ensure the safety of the [Crimean] people and give them a chance to vote. Until the last day I didn’t write the last sentence in my speech about the annexation of Crimea, because I was waiting for the referendum results.” — Daryna Shevchenko and Isaac Webb