He said this during a trip to Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
“Everyone knows this: we have never made a difference between Russians and Ukrainians, between Russia and Ukraine,” said the head of state.
According to him, the overwhelming majority of residents of Ukraine and the absolute majority of people in Russia have always believed that this is actually the same thing.
Putin also added that anti-Russian sentiments in Ukraine are rooted in history. He recalled that after the Great Patriotic War, some of the nationalist and Nazi elements who collaborated with Hitler fled abroad.
“They fled to the States, to Canada, and our enemy placed their bets on them,” the president said.
Earlier, Putin said that the only thing one can regret is that Russia did not begin active actions in Ukraine earlier.