“Let's turn to history, who belonged to whom? When at one time Moscow was subordinated to Kiev. So let's talk about the roots, not the consequences, ”TSN quoted the diplomat.

During a large press conference on December 19, Putin spoke of Vladimir Lenin’s decision to transfer to the Ukrainian SSR “original Russian territories,” which, according to the president, “have never had anything to do with Ukraine.”

He also noted that all of the Black Sea region, the western lands of Russia were transferred to Ukraine with a strange formulation "to increase the percentage of the proletariat."

Putin at a press conference also commented on the possibility of burying Lenin’s body, pointing out that “this should not be touched,” while there are so many people who associate their lives and destinies with this, certain achievements of the past Soviet years.