Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday the start of a military intervention in Ukraine to, he said, protect people from “abuse and genocide” by the Ukrainian government since eight years ago.
These seemingly simple arguments, however, hide other motivations why Putin, after weeks of tensions with the West and escalation of war, decided to take this step and which he already advanced in a speech delivered last Monday, in which questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty and underlined its historical link with Russia.
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These are some of the keys and the arguments, from the historical point of view, behind the Russian military intervention, according to Putin’s own words:
– The Russian ruler considers that “Ukraine is not just a neighboring country (…) It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. These are our comrades, the ones dearest to us, not just colleagues, friends and people who once served together, but also relatives, people united by blood, by family ties“.
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– also maintains that modern Ukraine was created entirely by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik, communist Russia.
– Subsequently, Josef Stalin incorporates Ukraine into the Soviet Union and transfers territories that previously belonged to Poland, Romania and Hungary. In the process, he gave Poland some of what was traditionally German land as compensation, and in 1954 Nikita Khrushchev took Crimea from Russia and also gave it to Ukraine. Indeed, this is how the territory of modern Ukraine was formed, the Kremlin leader believes.
– Putin defends that within what was the former Soviet Union borders between republics were never seen as state borders; they were nominal within a single country which, while displaying all the attributes of a federation, was highly centralized.
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– And after the fall of the USSR and the formation of the Russian Federation, Moscow recognized the new geopolitical realities; and he not only recognized, but actually did a lot for Ukraine to establish itself as an independent country, Putin assures.
– Already, throughout the difficult 1990s and into the new millennium, “we have given” considerable support to Ukrainesays Putin, who reiterates that Ukraine and Russia have developed as a single economic system for decades and centuries.
“The deep cooperation that we had 30 years ago is an example that the European Union should admire. We are natural complementary economic partners. Such a close relationship can strengthen the competitive advantages, increasing the potential of both countries,” he defends, referring to the intention of Kiev to approach the community bloc.
– AND blames the modern Ukrainian authorities for the decadence in which, according to him, the country has now fallen and in the fact that the hatred of the Russian is the sustenance of the new state.
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For these reasons, “all the subterfuges associated with the anti-Russia project are clear to us. And we will never allow our historical territories and the people close to us who live there to be used against Russia. And to those who undertake such an attempt, I would like to tell them that this way they will destroy their own country,” he warns.
– Putin also says that he is sure that the true sovereignty of Ukraine is only possible in partnership with Russia. “Our spiritual, human and civilizational ties were formed over centuries and have their origin in the same sources.”
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“Our kinship has been passed down from generation to generation. It is in the hearts and memories of people living in modern Russia and Ukraine, in the blood ties that bind millions of our families. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. Because we are one people”.
“Today, these words may be perceived by some people with hostility. They can be interpreted in many possible ways. However, many people will listen to me. And I will say one thing: Russia has never been and will never be ‘anti-Ukraine’. And what Ukraine will be depends on what its citizens decide,” the Russian leader said just days before the military operation.
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EFE
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