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MOSCOW. – Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his invasion of Ukraine will achieve what he called its “noble” aims.
Speaking alongside Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko yesterday, Mr Putin claimed that a clash with Ukraine had become “inevitable”.
He said he had been left with no choice but to launch the invasion in a bid to protect the Russian speaking Donbas region.
But during a public appearance marking the 61st anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first man in space, Mr Putin insisted that his forces are aiding oppressed people in separatist regions of Ukraine.
“On the one hand, we are helping and saving people, and on the other, we are simply taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself,” the 69-year old insisted.
“It’s clear that we didn’t have a choice. It was the right decision,” he said, adding “the goals are perfectly clear, they are noble.”
The Russian president said that Russia does not “intend to be isolated”, arguing that it is “impossible to severely isolate anyone in the modern world – especially such a vast country as Russia”.
Speaking from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, some 5 550km east of Moscow, the Russian leader also drew upon the success of the Soviet space programme, comparing Gagarin’s achievement during the Cold War to Russia’s current international isolation. – BBCWorld
Online Reporter