Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the only thing one can regret is that Russia did not take active action in Ukraine earlier. The Russian leader said this in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin.
“The only thing we can regret is that we did not begin our active actions earlier, believing that we were dealing with decent people,” Putin emphasized.
He also stated that Russia did not start the war in Donbass, but is trying to stop it, and is ready to work with any US president, but Biden is preferable to Trump, since he is more experienced and predictable.
Putin said that if Kyiv had not listened to the advice of former British Prime Minister Johnson in the spring of 2022, the war would have ended even then.
“He (David Arakhamia) said that if we had fully implemented the agreements that arose in Istanbul, the war would have stopped a year and a half ago”.
“Why did the West take this position? I mean the Anglo-Saxon world, because Mr. Johnson could not come on his own, on his own initiative, without consultation with Washington. He outlined the position that it was necessary to fight Russia to the bitter end and inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Apparently, they were counting on such a result,” Putin said.