Russia is the only entity that could become a future guarantor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an annual meeting with the members of Russia’s Human Rights Council.
The Russian head of state also lamented that this matter would be up to the next crop of Ukrainian politicians as the current leadership in Kiev apparently does not comprehend the matter at hand.
“The only real guarantor of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in its current borders could be Russia,” Putin said. “But that would be up to the Ukrainian politicians themselves, future politicians, of course.”
He added that currently, Ukrainian politicians apparently do not comprehend the issue in question or even do not try to, though some of them seem to be starting to ponder on it.
Vladimir Putin also pointed out how in 2014, shortly before the coup in Ukraine, the Polish, French and German foreign ministers signed an agreement between the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian opposition at the time.
Yet, despite the fact that these foreign ministers signed the document as guarantors of the peaceful resolution of a rather volatile situation that formed in Ukraine, they quickly forgot about that role of theirs after the coup had taken place, and did nothing to try to resolve the ensuing crisis peacefully, the Russian president remarked.
“When I remind my colleagues about all this, during phone conversations as well, they remain silent,” Putin said.
The military operation Russia launched in Ukraine in February took place only because Moscow was left with no other option to resolve the crisis in Donbass, he added, noting how the ensuing situation was used to fan the anti-Russian sentiment in the world.