SELIGER (Tver Region), August 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will not interfere in Ukraine’s decision on federalizing the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
“Our Ukrainian partners, for whatever reason I don’t know, as so afraid of federalization. That’s their choice. We, of course, will in no way interfere,” Putin said.
“I think we need to strengthen federalism in our country,” the president added.
Russia’s federal structure makes it possible to better take into account the citizens’ interests – their national, historical, religious and cultural peculiarities, according to Putin.
“That’s why Russian regions have extensive powers, especially in the fields I have mentioned,” the president said.
A federal structure allows the people living in different parts of a country that have specific cultural needs to live according to their views, Putin said.
Ukraine’s southeast has been under fire since mid-April, when Kiev launched a special military operation aimed at suppressing the pro-federalism movement in Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s military campaign against the Russian-speaking population in the east of the country and urged Kiev to stop the punitive operation, advocating a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Over 2,500 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since the start of Kiev’s military operation against the militias in eastern Ukraine in mid-April, according to the United Nations.
