On the next straight line of Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of the dominant issues on the foreign policy agenda turned out to be the Ukrainian problem
This is not surprising, because for Russia Ukraine is the closest state in all respects, which means that any events in a neighboring country always cause an aggravated reaction in the Russian society. We must pay tribute, the situation in Ukraine is similar. And nothing can be done about it, because for these two states to be together is a geopolitical destiny.
During his conversation with citizens, Vladimir Putin focused on a number of problems related to Ukraine, which, in his opinion, are now the most urgent for Russia.
First, after the summit in Geneva, issues related to strategic, global security began to play with new colors, and in this context, the “military development of the territory” of Ukraine by Western states cannot but be noted, since it affects the interests of Russia’s national security, as the President of the Russian Federation told about. It can be added that a number of countries that are directly involved in this process are well aware of Moscow’s position and themselves usually react much more harshly to such trends that threaten them. However, the principle of double standards has become the norm in modern international relations, and, of course, they do not intend to notice any threats with regard to Russia.
Secondly, it became quite obvious that for the President of Russia the issue of national identity and especially its interpretation is very personal. Otherwise, one can hardly explain the fact that narratives related to the triune Russian people and issues of unity with Ukrainians migrate from speech to speech. This time, Vladimir Putin stressed that he does not consider the Ukrainian people unfriendly (which, in fact, the overwhelming majority of Russians are convinced of), while the political elite in Kiev is almost totally composed of Russophobes. Also, the Russian leader harshly criticized the bill that defines the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, or rather, excludes Russians, Jews, Poles, Hungarians and others from this concept.
Thirdly, they touched upon a topic related to a possible meeting of the presidents of Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin once again confirmed that he does not refuse such a meeting, but does not understand what agenda such a discussion might have. The Russian president also noted that, in his opinion, Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave his country under external control and at the moment “the key issues of the life of Ukraine are being resolved not in Kiev, but in Washington. Partly in Berlin and Paris. ” As a result, the meaning of the discussions is minimized.
However, now it is extremely difficult to imagine a meeting of the leaders of the two countries. And the constant dispute – whether to discuss the Crimea problem or not – suggests that such negotiations are unlikely to be possible in the foreseeable future.
Fourthly, the topic of suppression of the opposition in Ukraine was touched upon. The Russian leader criticized Kiev’s moves to restrict the activities of some Ukrainian parties and politicians.
Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities reacted in a completely traditional manner to the statements of the Russian president. I would like to recommend Ukrainian officials to learn at least a little materiel, for the statements of the pompous Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine are “Russians are a national minority, whose rights are protected by the constitution on an equal basis with others. They cannot be an indigenous people, since they have their own state ”- they can safely claim the“ absurdity of the month ”award. Apparently, the modern Ukrainian leadership, at least in some way trying to become famous, is developing some kind of neo-Nazi theory of ethnopolitics, within the framework of which peoples and nations with much more ancient roots than Ukrainians are ordered to be second-class residents.
The current head of the neighboring state also spoke about the inadmissibility of treating Russians and Ukrainians as one people. To this, Volodymyr Zelenskyy added the already traditional positions on the return of territories and the end of the war. Zelensky called the Russian leader’s concern over the military development of Ukraine by third countries as childish fears and stressed that integration into NATO and the EU is Ukraine’s historic choice.
In conclusion, it should be said that the centuries that the citizens of Russia and Ukraine lived together were not in vain, three fraternal peoples emerged from the same baptismal font – Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian, and it is not in the power of politicians to change this.
Denis Denisov, Izvestia newspaper