Russia made a mistake in the 1990s by believing that the brotherly Ukrainian people ‘would not go anywhere,’ said former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepasin.
‘As for Ukraine, we thought it would not go anywhere. I believe this was a huge strategic mistake in the early 1990s,’ he said in an interview with VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.
Stepasin emphasised that at that time, many Western countries, including the United States, were actively working in Ukraine, which contributed to a change in public consciousness.
He added that in the 1990s, Russia had sufficient resources to establish relations with Ukrainians and seek like-minded people, but, according to him, Moscow did not take advantage of this opportunity.
Earlier, Stepashin stated that Ukraine was one of the first republics to begin breaking away from the USSR.
