MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russia assumed that it would be possible to resolve the situation with Ukraine peacefully, not being anxious for confrontation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 TV channel published by journalist Pavel Zarubin on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
"We assumed that we would be able to solve [the situation] absolutely peacefully. We have never been anxious for any confrontation," he said.
"Now we see that we were simply messed around, with none of our so-called partners intending to solve anything peacefully," Putin added.