Poroshenko Did Not Offer Donbass to Me - Putin

© REUTERS / Marko Djurica Independence supporters take their positions on a street, during an anti-terrorist drill in Donetsk, March 18, 2015
Independence supporters take their positions on a street, during an anti-terrorist drill in Donetsk, March 18, 2015 - Sputnik International
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The Russian president refuted media reports that the Ukrainian leader allegedly asked him to "take" the Donbass region.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, is followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, heading for a broader meeting involving senior officials in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Heard Through Grapevine: Putin Turned Down Poroshenko’s Offer of Donbass
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko offered him to incorporate the two breakaway Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

“No, there was nothing of the like. We were discussing issues tied with the renewal of the economy and social sphere in Donbass where there are many problems,” Putin said during a Q&A session in Moscow.

Earlier in April, the Russian edition of Forbes magazine website reported, citing an unnamed source, that Putin, during a closed-door meeting with the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Management Bureau on March 19, mentioned that Poroshenko offered him to "take" Donbass.

The proposal was reportedly made during the February 11-12 Normandy Format meeting on Ukrainian reconciliation that took place in the Belarusian capital of Minsk between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko - Sputnik International
Poroshenko Denies Discussing Transfer of Donbass to Russia With Putin
According to the Forbes source, the Russian leader declined the offer, saying that Kiev should either declare Ukraine's southeastern regions independent or carry out its responsibilities toward the population of Donbass, including payment of social benefits to the residents.

The head of RSPP Alexander Shokhin said that the rumor about the content of the two leaders' conversation was false. Poroshenko also dismissed the reports on the transfer of Donbass to Russia.

Putin on Poroshenko: You Can’t Choose Your Political Partners

In relations with foreign partners, politicians should be guided by their country’s interests, not personal attitudes, Vladimir Putin said when asked about partnership with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

"We can’t choose our partners. In our work, we should be guided by our country’s interests, not by personal likes and dislikes.”

Russian president added that relations of equal partnership with Moscow and respect to Russian speakers in Ukraine are the only things that Russia wants from Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a question during his annual televised phone-in with the nation in central Moscow on April 16, 2015. - Sputnik International
Putin Rules Out War Between Russia, Ukraine
The relations between Russia and Ukraine escalated after pro-EU forces, including radical nationalists, backed by Western powers, ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 after he did not sign an association agreement with the European Union.

On April 13, 2014, Kiev launched a military operation in the country’s southeast to crack down on independence supporters who refused to recognize the coup-imposed government in Kiev.

Clashes in Donbas have killed over 6,000 people and displaced more than a million since the civil war began, according to UN estimates.

 

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