Putin refutes restoration of Russian Empire
The Russian president says he would like to develop the country within its current borders.
The Russian President told it to the French media houses: TV channel TF-1 and radio station Europe-1.
"We will not support Russian nationalism and we are not going to restore the empire,” RBK quotes Putin’s comment on the strategy of Russia’s development.
Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, Putin stressed that there were no Russian troops there. “There are no armed forces or Russian instructors even in the south-east of Ukraine. There weren’t any and there will not be any,” he claimed. “Russia has never tried to destabilize the situation in Ukraine,” Putin assured.
He also commented on the situation in Crimea: “The inhabitants of Crimea realized their right for self-determination according to the UN statute – the right of nations for self-determination.”
Furthermore, Russia had no guarantees that Ukraine would not become part of NATO, Putin added. “We could not allow the historic Russian territory with the ethnic Russian population to join some international military alliance while Crimeans wanted to become part of Russia. Sorry, we could not do anything else,” the Russian president added.
Photo: russian.rt.com
