MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Russia did not start the war as part of a special military operation, it is the Kiev regime that started and continues the hostilities, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the Foreign Ministry's senior staff.
"In the West, the thesis that Russia started the war within the framework of a special military operation, that it is the aggressor, is constantly being repeated. Therefore, it is possible to attack its territory with Western weapons. Allegedly, Ukraine defends itself and can do so," the president said. "I would like to emphasize once again that Russia did not start the war. It is the Kiev regime, after the citizens of a part of Ukraine declared their independence in accordance with international law, that started hostilities and continues them. This is aggression," he pointed out.
According to him, all those who helped the Kiev regime's war machine in recent years are accomplices of the aggressors. "Then, in 2014, the residents of Donbass did not put up with it. Militia units rose, fought back the aggressors, and then pushed them back from Donetsk and Lugansk," he recalled. "We hoped that this would sober up those who unleashed this massacre," Putin emphasized.