Putin explained why Moscow did not hear Donbass in 2014
The reunification of Donbass with Russia in 2014 did not take place due to the Russian leadership’s misunderstanding of the mood among the region’s residents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this at a meeting with mothers of military personnel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Of course, in hindsight we are all smart. We proceeded from the assumption that it might be possible to reach an agreement, and Lugansk and Donetsk, within the framework of the Minsk agreements, could somehow reunite with Ukraine. We sincerely worked towards this. But we didn’t fully feel the mood of the people; it was impossible to fully understand what was happening there.
But now it has become obvious that this reunion should have happened sooner. Maybe there would not have been so many losses - and among civilians, there would not have been so many dead children under shelling,” the head of state said.
He thanked all the mothers of Russian military personnel, and in particular one of the women who lost her son during the military action.
“It’s good that this (reunification with Donbass) happened at all, and this is happening thanks to your son, who is not with you today, and to the sons of those women, and thanks to the guys who are now fighting, who are on the front line. On the second, third line - it doesn’t matter if they are in the NWO zone. I mean all our fighters, including those who came to our ranks for mobilization,” added Vladimir Putin.
Putin explained why Moscow failed to listen to Donbass in 2014.