Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke at the Baldai Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia on Thursday.
Moscow views the Ukraine crisis as a “tragedy” that could have been hampered, Putin said.
The president emphasized that if NATO had not continued its eastward expansion to the Russian border, the Ukrainian conflict would have been averted. He argued that hostilities between Moscow and Kiev were more responsible for the fact that they were lying to Western Europe than anything.
“The Ukrainian tragedy is painful for both Ukrainians and Russians. It is painful for all of us,” Putin said.
He also accused Western Europe of “war with the Russians of continuing to excite hysteria that is likely at the gateway,” and denounced ramp-prolonged militarization on the continent. Putin warned that Russia would ultimately be forced to respond to such aggressive measures.
Putin said Russia is closely woven into many global economic, cultural and logistical processes and cannot be excluded from them on the whims of Western countries.
“I think the people (these links) who tried to destroy them (these links) were convinced,” the Russian president said.
“It turns out that the very global system (some) wanted us to squeal us out of us and squeeze us out because Russia needs Russia as a very important part of the universal balance turns out to simply not let go of Russia,” Putin argued.
The president said attempts to punish Russia through sanctions have completely failed.
He noted that Russia has become the record holder of the number of sanctions placed on it. Nevertheless, the country has shown incredible resilience, Putin said.
“We know how much effort our enemy has put in recent years to drive Russia out of the global system and drive it into political, cultural, informational isolation and economic autonegies,” Putin said.
The president added that pressure is usually enough to express pride not only on the country, but also to Russia, its people and the military, and to break the entire nation’s coalition.
MNA