Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with a group of African leaders who proposed an African peace initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS
On Friday night, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with a group of African leaders who presented an African peace initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The meeting ended at 2 am. In his open part, Putin expressed several important theses that not only characterized Russia’s position in this conflict, but also explained the reasons that led to the current situation, which, of course, contributed to a better understanding of what was happening by African leaders.
What Putin said:
THREE REASONS FOR THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS
– The problem did not arise yesterday, it was provoked by some forces in the West, which for many years prepared for a hybrid war with our country, did everything possible to turn Ukraine into a tool to undermine the foundations of Russia’s security. Federation, to damage Russian positions in the world and undermine our state.
– The second problem that led to today’s crisis is the coup in Ukraine in 2014. It was precisely the bloody anti-constitutional state armed coup, which Western countries actively supported, while neglecting all the norms of international law and directly, they said publicly who supported this coup even called the amount they spent on it.
– Kiev received its independence and independence during the collapse of the Soviet Union on the basis of the Declaration of Independence, and in this declaration it was written in black and white that Ukraine is a neutral state, and for us this is of fundamental importance. It is not very clear to us why the West began to draw Ukraine into NATO … The advancement of the infrastructure of the military bloc, which is actually hostile to us, is unacceptable for our borders.
RESOLVE THE QUESTION QUIETLY
– We (Russia) act in full compliance with the UN Charter. After the 2014 coup, the Ukrainian authorities started hostilities, in fact, against part of their people, using planes, heavy equipment, tanks against those who did not agree with the Western-backed coup. For our part, we did our best to resolve this crisis peacefully by signing, participating in the signing of the so-called Minsk agreements, which the Kiev authorities derailed, we did not fulfill any of these agreements with the support of the West, we did nothing at all .
– The kyiv authorities issued a special regulatory framework, including a decree issued by the President of Ukraine, prohibiting negotiations. For our part, we have never refused to negotiate, we have always said publicly that we are ready to continue the dialogue… A draft of this (peace) treaty was agreed, but after the withdrawal of our troops from Kiev (we are talking about negotiations in Istanbul – ed.) ed.) – and we were asked to do this in order to create conditions for the conclusion of a final agreement – the Kiev authorities abandoned all previous agreements.
RUSSIA, THE WEST AND THE UN
– We were forced to recognize the independence of certain territories – and for eight years we did not recognize the independence of these newly formed republics, for eight years we tried to achieve a peaceful settlement. So, we recognized independence, we signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with these newly formed states, all within the framework of the UN Charter, and within the framework of these treaties we responded to their call for help, and this is in in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. There are no violations of the UN Charter here.
– Our Western partners forgot how they acted in Iraq, destroying the statehood of this country and finally eliminating Saddam Hussein. They forgot how they acted in Libya, without any decision from the UN Security Council. They forgot that they screwed up the situation in Sudan. They forgot that they invaded Syria. They wanted to spit on the UN Charter. They only think of international law when they think that these tools can be used against someone, in this case against Russia. They will not succeed, it is too primitive. If they really want someone to respect the Charter of the United Nations and other norms of international law, let them take the trouble to comply with these same legal norms themselves.
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