'Historic Russian lands': Putin makes series of claims about Ukraine
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the occupied territories of Ukraine "historic Russian lands" in comments to propagandist Pavel Zarubin.
"Historic lands"
Putin commented on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's statement that Ukraine was ready to freeze the war with Russia along the current front line.
"My position on this matter is that this is not their territory, but the territory of historic Russia," he said.
The Kremlin chief backed up his claims by citing sham referendums in which residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions allegedly voted to join Russia.
"We don't want to fight"
Putin also claimed that Russia "does not want to fight Ukraine."
"But if the current Ukrainian leadership wants to fight, then let them fight," he added.
The Russian president claimed that all Ukrainian citizens, except for "motivated nationalist formations," are being forced to the front lines against their will.
"That is why we have always advocated a peaceful settlement. We have been talking about this since the very first days, back in 2014... I want to say that we are still ready. We are ready to negotiate and seek solutions to this difficult situation," Putin said.
"Genetic studies"
The Kremlin chief justified his desire to "negotiate" by citing fabricated claims about "genetic studies."
"These are people who are very close to us, you see? Well, what is there to say? The latest genetic studies show that Russians and Ukrainians are actually one people," he added.
It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly fabricated justifications for launching his full-scale war against Ukraine.
The Kremlin chief continues to kill Ukrainian civilians every day, despite claiming that Ukrainians and Russians are one people.
Today, in particular, Russian forces struck a market in Lozova. The attack killed two people and injured another 34.
