The West and particularly the US are to blame for the crisis, the Russian president insists
The tragic events currently unfolding in Ukraine started with the US-backed 2014 coup dβetat in Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, stressing that the West is to blame for the conflict.
Putin was speaking with heads of international news agencies on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
βEveryone [in the West] believes that Russia started the war in Ukraine. But no one β I want to emphasize this β no one in the West, in Europe, wants to remember how this tragedy began,β the president said, responding to a question by German journalist.
βIt began with a coup in Ukraine β an unconstitutional coup dβetat. This is the beginning of the war. Well, is Russia to blame for this coup? No.β
