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Direct Line and Vladimir Putin's Press Conference

Putin proclaims Odessa Russian city, challenges Ukraine's historical narrative

At the same time, the president noted that once upon a time "Vladimir Lenin gave away the whole of Ukraine when he created the Soviet Union"

MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. Odessa is a Russian city and everyone is well aware of this, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the combined Direct Line Q&A session and year-end press conference.

"The whole southeast of Ukraine has always been pro-Russian, because these are historically Russian territories. Turkey knows this well, the entire Black Sea coast went to Russia as a result of the Russo-Turkish wars. What does Ukraine have to do with this? It has nothing to do with it. Neither Crimea, nor the entire Black Sea coast in general," Putin said in response to a TASS question. "Odessa is a Russian city. We know this. Everyone knows this. But no, they drummed up all sorts of historical nonsense," he pointed out.

At the same time, the president noted that once upon a time "Vladimir Lenin gave away the whole of Ukraine when he created the Soviet Union." "We came to terms with this after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We accepted it and were ready to live in this paradigm," the Russian president emphasized. "But this part, the southeast [of Ukraine], is pro-Russian. It was also important for us," he underscored.

Putin explained that the residents of these territories had always voted for those who "went along with the pro-Russian agenda of Ukraine's domestic and foreign policy," and in general "Russia was quite satisfied with that." "But after the coup in 2014, it became clear to us that we would not be allowed <...> to establish normal relations with Ukraine," the Russian leader added.

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