"Of course, it was not immediately clear /what will be the reaction to Crimea’s reunification with Russia/. That is why, on the very first stage of work I had to instruct our armed forces correspondingly. Not merely to orient them but to issue direct instructions," the president said.
When asked whether it meant that Russia’s nuclear forces had been put on an alert, Putin said, "We were ready to do that. We did not want to push our way through but we were forced to do that."
The president said he had spoken with "colleagues and told them that it /Crimea/ is our historic territory, where Russian people are living who are in danger and we cannot leave them." "It was not us to stage a state coup, it was done by nationalists and people with extremist views," Putin noted. "You supported them but where are you? Thousands kilometres away? But we are here, this is our land! What you are going to fight for? Do you know? We do. And we are ready for that."
"This is an honest and open position. And this is why I think no one wanted to unleash a global conflict," the Russian president said, adding he had been ready for "the most unfavorable development of the situation.".
http://tass.ru/en/world/782849
15/3/15
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Related:
Putin Recounts How He Gave Orders to ‘Save’ Yanukovych, ‘Return’ Crimea
Vladimir Putin has admitted for the first time that the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the referendum on self-determination...
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Putin 'was ready for nuclear alert'...
ReplyDeletePresident Vladimir Putin has said he was ready to put Russia's nuclear weapons on standby during tensions over the crisis in Ukraine and Crimea.
In comments in a documentary aired on state TV on Sunday, Mr Putin said the life of ex-Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych had been in danger.
He also said Russians in Crimea were in danger before Russia annexed it.
In a previously released clip from the film, he said he ordered the annexation weeks before a referendum was held.
Crimea was formally absorbed into Russia on 18 March, to international condemnation, after unidentified gunmen took over the peninsula............http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31899680
15/3/15
Russia mulled raising nuclear readiness over Crimea, says Putin...
ReplyDeleteRussia was ready to bring its nuclear weapons into a state of alert during last year’s tensions over the Crimean Peninsula and the overthrow of Ukraine’s president, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired on Sunday.
Putin also expanded on a previous admission that the well-armed forces in unmarked uniforms who took control of Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea were Russian soldiers.
Putin’s comments, in a documentary being shown on state TV, highlight the extent to which alarm spread in Russia in the weeks following Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster in February 2014 after months of street protests that turned increasingly violent..............AP...........http://www.france24.com/en/20150315-russia-putin-nuclear-readiness-crimea/
15/3/15
Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that if he could turn back time he would act exactly as he did on the Crimean issue...
ReplyDelete"And what else could I do? I would have never done that if I was not sure we simply must act this way," Putin said in a documentary "Crimea. The Path to the Motherland" that was broadcasted by Russia’s television channel Rossiya 1 on Sunday.
Commenting on the sanctions imposed on Russia over the Crimean developments, Putin said, "Sanctions are a bad thing." They should have been imposed on "those who stage state coups and those who help those who do it."..............http://tass.ru/en/russia/782858
16/3/15