Russian President Vladimir Putin's Comments on National Unity Day

Moscow, Russia 11-4-2022

Russia MFA:
President Vladimir Putin met with historians and representatives of Russia’s traditional religions on the occasion of the National #UnityDay.

Excerpts from the President's remarks

🇷🇺 Our common heartfelt devotion to Russia, our love for it, the unity of the multiethnic people of this country both in times of trial and in resolving large-scale development goals – these have always been the key moments in our history.

• Our position on the preservation of historical memory and thus our sovereignty irritates some countries in the West. As a matter of fact, this has been the case for centuries.

• For decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine experienced direct, overt interference from Western countries in its internal affairs.

❗️ The clash with the neo-Nazi regime – Russia's clash with the neo-Nazi regime that developed in Ukraine – was inevitable.

• It is Ukraine and the Ukrainian people that have become the first and the main victims of breeding hate towards Russians and Russia. Meanwhile, everything is exactly the opposite in Russia, and you are well aware of that – we have always treated the Ukrainian people with warm respect.

• Today the foreign powers are absolutely ruthless to the Ukrainian people as they send non-stop supplies of weapons and mercenaries there. They are promoting their geopolitical objectives at the expense of the Ukrainian people with goals that have nothing to do with the interests of the Ukrainian people.