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ULAN-UDE, Mar 14 Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking about the conflict in Ukraine, said that for the West as an adversary it is about improving the geopolitical state, for Russia it is a struggle for people and for the survival of Russian statehood.
«If for our Western partners the so-called, opponent of today's — we can now say this directly — it's about improving the geopolitical situation, then for us, I mean the whole prehistory of the last few years, 8-10 years, everything that happens is not just an improvement of some kind of geopolitical position. For us, this is, firstly, the struggle for our people who live in these territories, «Putin said during a conversation with the workers of the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant.
He stressed that Russia is a multinational country, and these people are part of the people.
«You know, we are a multinational country, after all it is Russian th world. If you communicate with people who come from there, I met them, they are no different from us, nothing, they are the same as we are, they are part of our people. How can they be abandoned?» Putin said.
According to the President, for Russia this is not just a struggle for a geopolitical state, it is a struggle for the existence of the Russian statehood itself.
«Because our enemy , or as I said before, a partner — they have one task, and in previous decades we were convinced of this — to shake, pull apart to pieces — that's what it's all about. So for us this is not a geopolitical task, but the task of the survival of Russian statehood, creating conditions for the future development of the country and our children,» Putin said.