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Russian deputy defense minister calls Russia's attitude to Ukraine good-neighborly

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said it will take several years to restore the relations between the two countries

Russian-Ukrainian border ITAR-TASS/Sergei Kozlov

Russian-Ukrainian border

© ITAR-TASS/Sergei Kozlov

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russia’s attitude toward Ukraine will not change because of the recent events and will stay good-neighborly, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told RT on Thursday.

"We haven’t changed our thinking about Ukraine. Our attitude to Ukraine was, is and will be the same. It’s not our enemy, it’s our neighbor," the deputy minister said.

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"Russia and Ukraine used to be part of one country, the Soviet Union, and it’s difficult to hear when [Ukrainian politicians] consider Russia an enemy," Antonov said.

It will take several years to restore the relations between the two countries, he added.

There were no miscalculations by Moscow regarding the situation in Ukraine, the deputy minister noted. "We only decided to help Russian people living in Ukraine," Antonov said.

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Ukraine crisis Foreign policy

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