Putin: Relations between Russia and Ukraine will return to normal after the military operation

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday at an economic forum in St Petersburg that Russia expects to restore relations with Ukraine after the end of the "special military operation" in that country.

"Sooner or later, the situation will return to normal," Putin added, during a question-and-answer session with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Russia sent tens of thousands of its soldiers to Ukraine on February 24 in what it called a "special military operation" to disarm and uproot what it called "Nazis" in Ukraine.

Ukraine and Western countries say this is a pretext for an unjustified war of aggression.

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