MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. The founders of Ukrainian nationalism in the 19th century sought good relations with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled.
"The founding fathers of Ukrainian nationalism never spoke about any urgent need to break up with Russia," Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin".
The Russian leader recalled that in their fundamental works, the Ukrainian nationalists of the 19th century said that Ukraine was multi-ethnic and should be a federal state that would build good relations with Russia.
"Today’s nationalists seem to have forgotten that. I’ll tell you why they have forgotten that. You know why? Because the interests of the Ukrainian people are not the main issue on their agenda. How can it be in the interest of the Ukrainian people, if the break-up with Russia has led to the loss of aerospace engineering, shipbuilding, aeronautical engineering and engine manufacturing. It is virtually deindustrializing the country," he stated.
Putin recalled that gas prices in Ukraine were soaring because the World Bank demanded an end to cross-subsidization. Also, the country was forced into exporting round timber from the Carpathians. "Soon, the Carpathians are going to become deforested," he warned.
"What was the reason for doing this? If we pool our efforts together, we can innumerably bolster our competitive advantages, so why forfeit it? Why throw everything away? For what?" Putin wondered.
Episode 2 of this video interview is available at https://putin.tass.ru/en.