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Remarks by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at a joint news conference with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, April 12, Amur Region on the Special military operation in Ukraine.
The goals are absolutely clear; these are noble goals. I said this at the very beginning. I would like to point out that I indicated these goals in my first address to the people and the Armed Forces. The main goal is to help the people of Donbass, the people’s republics of Donbass, which we have recognised.
It was a forced decision because, regrettably, the Kiev authorities, pushed by the West, refused to implement the Minsk Agreements that were aimed at a peaceful solution to the problem of Donbass and the two people’s republics.
We could no longer tolerate that genocide, which went on for eight years. This is the first point.
Second, Ukraine was being turned into a bridgehead, regrettably for us, into an anti-Russia bridgehead. They started nurturing the germs of nationalism and neo-Nazism that appeared in that country long ago.
You know that, if you took note of what I said in one of my public addresses, they specially nurtured that neo-Nazi virus, and Russia’s clash with these forces was inevitable.
They were just choosing the right time for an attack. The subsequent events have shown how much this has germinated. It is an obvious fact.
Regrettably, neo-Nazism has become a fact of life in a big country with which we had close affinity.
This is clear. It was imminent, and just a matter of time. What we are doing there is helping people, saving them from genocide, on the one hand, and at the same time we are taking measures to ensure the security of Russia itself − it is obvious that we had no alternative and that it was the right step.
And there is no doubt that we will definitely attain the goals set.
On the Western sanctions
When the first sanctions were imposed in 2014, some of our industries, for example, agriculture, made huge strides.
Our agriculture has become a high-tech sector.
Our agricultural exports have even exceeded the export of our weapons systems by a large margin, by US$10 billion.
Of course, modern science and technologies are interconnected, and we are not going to isolate ourselves.
It is impossible to completely isolate anyone in the modern world, let alone a large country like Russia.
Therefore, we will work with those of our partners who want to cooperate with us. We will work on near space and outer space programmes, and we will also implement our moon-exploration programme.
On Russia-Belarus cooperation
Belarus is our leading trade and economic partner in the CIS and ranks fourth for us globally. In 2021, our trade grew by more than one third – as we have just discussed – reaching US$40 billion.
I am convinced that in the current situation, when the Western countries have unleashed a complete sanctions war against Russia and Belarus, it is important to deepen our integration within the Union State, and we agree with Mr President on this issue.
We will continue to oppose any attempt to impede the development of our countries or to isolate them artificially from the global economy.
I believe this is pointless; Russia and Belarus have always been closely linked economically. As I said, we are tied in many ways, including industrial cooperation, and such attempts will never succeed against us. I am confident that we will become even stronger because we will develop our own competences and, importantly, we will not isolate ourselves.
I would like to express my gratitude to our Belarusian colleagues for the efficient organisation of several negotiating rounds on their territory.
A direct dialogue with the Ukrainian side was possible largely due to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko’s personal efforts. We believe the Belarusian platform is quite suitable for further meetings.
Online Reporter