During a military parade in Moscow on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his troops fighting in neighboring Ukraine, but offered little insight into his next steps.
Although he showed no signs of backing down, Putin on Monday did not make any declarations of war, peace or victory during his remarks. He drew parallels between Soviet soldiers battling Nazi troops and the Russian forces fighting now in Ukraine, as he has vowed to"de-Nazify" Ukraine. He also spoke of Donbas as if it was already part of Russia.
Putin accused Ukraine of seeking to attain nuclear weapons and planning a"punitive operation in the Donbas, for an invasion of our historical lands, including Crimea." He also laid blame on the West for refusing to have"an honest dialogue" about Russia's demands for formal guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the alliance will pull back its forces from countries in eastern Europe that joined after the Cold War.
The Russian leader claimed that attacking the former Soviet Republic"was a forced, timely and only right decision -- the decision of a sovereign, strong, independent country."MORE: Why Russia has suffered the loss of an 'extraordinary' number of generals
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