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Crimea and Sevastopol

Putin says he would do the same if situation with Crimea repeated

Commenting on the sanctions imposed on Russia over the Crimean developments, Putin said they should be imposed on those who stage state coups

Vladimir Putin (center) on a visit to Crimea EPA/ SERGEI ILNITSKY

Vladimir Putin (center) on a visit to Crimea

© EPA/ SERGEI ILNITSKY

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VLADIVOSTOK, Match 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that if he could turn back time he would act exactly as he did on the Crimean issue.

"And what else could I do? I would have never done that if I was not sure we simply must act this way," Putin said in a documentary "Crimea. The Path to the Motherland" that was broadcasted by Russia’s television channel Rossiya 1 on Sunday.

Commenting on the sanctions imposed on Russia over the Crimean developments, Putin said, "Sanctions are a bad thing." They should have been imposed on "those who stage state coups and those who help those who do it."

"We acted in the interests of Russian people and the entire country. It is absolutely inadmissible to exchange that for money, to exchange people for benefits whatsoever, to exchange people for a possibility of any contracts or bank transfers," Putin underscored. "It doesn’t mean that we can ignore, say, international law and interests of our partners. But it means that all of our partners should not ignore Russia and its interests."

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Crimea and Sevastopol Vladimir Putin

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