'We are not one people': Zelensky sharply responded to Putin about his words about Ukrainians and Russians

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky sharply responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin's assertion that Ukrainians and Russians are one people, artificially divided in relatively recent history. Writes about this with the BBC.

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Zelenskiy gave an interview to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, whose journalist asked him to respond to Putin's statements during his "Direct Line" with the Russians on Wednesday, June 30.

“Why is Ukraine not on the list of unfriendly countries? Because I don’t think that the Ukrainian people are unfriendly people,” Putin said. “I have already spoken about this many times, I can repeat it again: I believe that Ukrainians and Russians are generally one people.”

At the same time, Putin said that external forces “have always tried to tear apart and fragment the Russian people, this has been going on since the Middle Ages. How was the ethnic component interpreted in our country before? There were Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians. Then, under the influence of external factors, and then the Bolsheviks made their contribution, and we began to, as it were, divide the united Russian people.”

The President of Ukraine gave a harsh answer.

“Let’s finally dot the i’s,” Zelensky said. “We are definitely not one people.” Yes, we have a lot in common. We have a common part of history, memory, neighborhood, relatives, a common victory over fascism and common tragedies. Yes, all this is extremely important, and we remember this.”

“But we, I repeat once again, are not one people. If we were one people, then in Moscow, most likely, hryvnias would circulate, and a yellow-blue flag would fly over the State Duma. So it’s definitely not just one people. Each of us has our own path,” added the President of Ukraine.

Will there be negotiations

Putin and Zelenskiy also argued about the possibility of new direct talks between the heads of the two countries.

The last time the Ukrainian and Russian leaders met was in December 2019 during negotiations in the “Normandy Format” - in addition to Putin and Zelensky, the President of France and the Chancellor of Germany also took part in this summit. The main topic of the meeting was resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine - and its only concrete result was an agreement on the exchange of prisoners.

On the subject: 'I would like us to have a Disneyland': Zelensky spoke about the plans and problems of Ukraine

Basically, relations between Ukraine and Moscow have not changed. Ukraine accuses Russia of direct support of the separatists with troops and weapons. But Moscow calls the conflict an internal problem for Ukraine and insists that Kiev should negotiate directly with those who control Donetsk and Luhansk.

“We really should have one goal - to end the war in Donbass, to return its territories to Ukraine. And yet, it is impossible to simultaneously talk about “one people” and openly seize our territories and continue the war in Donbass. This is obvious,” Zelensky said.

Putin has a different opinion about his meeting with Zelensky.

“What is the point of meeting with Zelensky if he has given his country under complete external control? - Putin said. — The key issues of Ukraine’s life are resolved not in Kyiv, but in Washington, partly in Berlin and Paris. So what to talk about? Nevertheless, I do not refuse meetings of this kind, you just need to understand what to talk about.”

Zelensky responded by saying that such phrases from Putin do not offend him. “I never live in stereotypes. It looks as if I, for example, said: “Why do Russians need elections, direct democracy, if everything is decided exclusively in the Kremlin? It is clear that theses about any “external control” are exclusively a propaganda mantra for the domestic consumer specifically in Russia. Because in the real world, all issues regarding Ukraine are resolved exclusively in Ukraine and by the Ukrainian state, and certainly not in any neighboring country and certainly not by “shadow intermediaries” who are now under house arrest or wanted.”

Putin’s godfather, Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian politician and leader of the pro-Russian party “Opposition Platform - For Life,” was often called the “shadow mediator” between Russia and Ukraine. Now Medvedchuk is under house arrest, he is charged, among other things, with high treason - trying to make money from fields in Crimea annexed by Russia and transferring Ukrainian military secrets to the Russian authorities. Medvedchuk denies these accusations and considers them political persecution.

Putin spoke out in defense of Medvedchuk, whom he called a "Ukrainian nationalist."

The correspondence dispute between the authorities of Ukraine and Russia about the historical roots of the origin of the two peoples has been going on for decades. Back in 2003, the then President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma wrote a book under the eloquent title “Ukraine is not Russia,” and he published it in Moscow and in Russian.

What else did Putin talk about

Putin also mentioned the incident with the British destroyer near the Crimea.

“This is a provocation, quite obviously. What did you want to show? This provocation was complex and was carried out not only by the British, but also by the Americans. This was reported to me. We saw him well and observed him. It was obvious that the destroyer came in pursuit of military goals,” the Russian President said, writes New Paper.

Putin also told about his future successor: “A holy place is never empty. The time will come, and I hope I will be able to say that some person is worthy to lead such a wonderful country. "

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Even in global warming, according to the president, Russia has bypassed everyone else. He believes that in Russia it is happening even faster than in other countries.

And in the end, Putin said what kind of Russia he would like to pass on to future generations.

“Once upon a time the USSR collapsed. Half the economy was lost. Historical Russia invested large resources into the economy. What to do about it? Restoring the USSR is pointless and impractical. Despite the losses, Russia is the largest country in the world by territory. Russia is the world's storehouse of various resources, this is our advantage. Russia's main gold reserve is people. Our people are a people with very deep historical and cultural roots. This is very important, since the modern world is connected with modern technologies. And we have a great internal respect for science and education. The future of humanity is connected with this. If we can achieve internal stability, success is inevitable. Then we can proudly say that we live in a country that we consider great,” he said.

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