KAZAN, October 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that it was not Russia's actions but the 2014 government coup that led to the escalation in Ukraine.
"I would like to draw your attention to the fact that it was not Russia's actions that led to the escalation in Ukraine, but the 2014 government coup, supported primarily by the United States," he told a news conference following the BRICS summit.
The Russian leader drew attention to the fact that it was "even publicly announced how much money the then US administration had spent on preparing and staging that government coup."
"Wasn’t it the surest path to escalation? Then we were deceived for eight years. We were repeatedly told that everyone wished to resolve the conflict in Ukraine by peaceful means through the Minsk agreements. Later on - you probably heard this, too - a number of leaders of European states acknowledged outright that they had been cheating us because they were using that time to arm the Ukrainian army. Is that true? It is. Next, the further escalation steps were taken when the Western countries began to actively arm the Kiev regime. Where are we now? We see the direct participation of NATO countries' military personnel in this conflict," Putin said.