Russia repeatedly sought peaceful solution to problems in Ukraine: Putin

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia has repeatedly sought a peaceful solution to the problems in Ukraine since 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with U.S. media personality Tucker Carlson published Friday.

"We repeatedly, repeatedly offered to seek a solution to the problems that arose in Ukraine after the coup in 2014 by peaceful means. But no one listened to us. And what's more, the Ukrainian leadership, which was under full control of the United States, suddenly declared that it would not fulfill the Minsk agreements, they did not like anything there, and continued military activity in this territory," Putin said.

Meanwhile, the development of this territory by NATO military structures took place under the guise of various training and retraining centers for personnel, said Putin, adding that they had actually built bases there.

He recalled that the Ukrainian authorities adopted laws that restricted the rights of Russians. "In Ukraine, they declared that Russians are -- they passed a law -- a non-titular nation, and at the same time they adopted laws that restrict the rights of non-titular nations."

"This all together caused the decision to end the war that was started by neo-Nazis in Ukraine in 2014 by armed means," the Russian president said.