The subjunctive mood in the question of the timing of the start of a special military operation cannot be applied. This opinion was expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with correspondent Pavel Zarubin in the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" on the channel "Russia 1", answering the question whether it was possible to start a special operation in 2014.
"As for readiness and expediency: you know, in such cases there is no subjunctive mood, this is the first thing. Secondly, this also applies to our readiness for some more serious actions than actions within the framework of the so-called "Crimean Spring," Putin said.
He recalled that the situation on the peninsula developed "from the wheels".
"It's obvious to everyone. We simply could not deny the Crimeans our support and protection. Precisely because they were already visited there, as they say in Ukraine itself, by Nazis, our sacred duty was to protect the Crimeans," the head of state explained.
At the same time, according to him, Moscow hoped to resolve the Issue of Donbass "by absolutely peaceful means": "We have never sought any confrontation."
"As for Donbass, we counted on the fact that it would be possible to solve this problem peacefully! But, as it turns out now, we see this, we were simply led by the nose: none of our so-called partners was going to solve anything by peaceful means, but simply pumped weapons into Ukraine and prepared it for hostilities," Putin said.
He added that the Ukrainian side, as a result of these actions of the West, "undertook two large-scale military operations using heavy equipment, artillery, aviation."
At the same time, the head of state noted that since 2014, the Russian authorities have done a lot: they managed to provide the country with food, solved a lot on the issue of import substitution in critical areas of the country's life, and strengthened the financial system. "In our country, despite the expectations of the enemy, nothing has collapsed, everything works - and the MIR card works, and the financial system is functioning, banks are increasing their capabilities," he added.
In his opinion, it is very difficult to say what would have happened nine years ago.
"And finally, yes, we need to do a lot, for example, for the development of dry-air troops, but we did not have hypersonic weapons then, and now we do. Yes, we don't actually apply it, but it is there. Understand? There are other modern systems, and in 2014 there was nothing like this, "the Russian leader emphasized.
Earlier this week, Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea. In Sevastopol, the head of state visited the historical and architectural park "Tauric Chersonese", where he inspected the new objects of this complex, and also visited the children's art aesthetic center and the Branch of Artek - the korsun Children's Center.
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Putin also drove a car around several districts and talked with local residents. As Dmitry Peskov noted later, instructions will be given on the problems associated with the delay in salaries and the registration of Russian citizenship, which mariupol residents told him about.
In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told how the Ukrainian military during the retreat from Mariupol hit residential buildings with direct fire, and also mined medical equipment in hospitals.
"These are the so-called Nazis, normal people do not do this," Putin stressed.
In Rostov-on-Don, the head of state heard reports from the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and a number of military leaders.
According to the press secretary of the head of state, the trip to the command post of the SVO in the administrative center of the Rostov region was not prepared in advance: "No one planned this trip either through the administration, or through any special services, or through the Ministry of Defense."