MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said a clash with hostile forces in Ukraine has been inevitable.
"It became obvious that clashes with those forces, including in Ukraine, were inevitable. The question was only when it would happen," he said at a yearend Defense Ministry meeting.
Putin said military operations always go hand in hand with tragedies and losses.
"We understand that perfectly well, we realize that, but because it’s inevitable, better today than tomorrow," the president said.
Putin also brought up the subject of the manifestations of neo-Nazism and fascism in Ukraine. The head of state said Russia also has them, but the government cracks down on them.
"Every country has nationalists, and we do. But we are fighting the manifestations of neo-Nazism and fascism. We do not elevate them to the rank of national policy, but in Ukraine they do, everyone pretends not to notice it," he said.
"Nationalism might seem a good thing. They fight for national interests, and no one notices that it’s done on the basis of the fascist, neo-Nazi ideology. People walk around with swastikas in the centers of major cities, including in the capital, and it may seem that’s the way everyone wants it," the president said. "It’s similar to how, in the early 2000s, they used international terrorists to fight Russia, and didn’t give a damn, sorry about ill manners, that it was a terrorist, an internationally recognized terrorist. They didn’t give a damn because they used it to fight Russia. Same here, neo-Nazis are used to fight Russia and they don’t give a damn that these people are neo-Nazis. The main thing is that they fight Russia. But we do care.".