http://www.en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73328

Vladimir Putin: Maxim, first of all, regarding the decision to launch the special military operation. I have spoken about this many times and I will say it again here. There were no other considerations but one: protecting Russia's interests. None at all. And there were and can be no other motives in addressing such issues.

Let me remind you that we tried our best to build relations with Ukraine for decades. We did everything we could: we provided them with soft loans, offered fuel at very low prices, granted access to our market – everything. But no, the actual power in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the actual power, was always in the hands of nationalists and those who represent them. No matter who was elected with the help of southeast Ukraine, with the help of voters who live in the southeast, still this nationalist platform, its representatives very quickly subjugated everyone to their will, because they are active, energetic, and aggressive, and everyone immediately fell in line.

Next. We nevertheless tried very patiently to build relations, relying on the pro-Russian part of Ukrainian society, of course, exclusively by peaceful means, and we had no other intentions. However, it appears that our geopolitical adversary realised that it would not be possible to reshape the whole of Ukraine, including the population in the south-east, the Russian-speaking population, and that is why in 2014 they staged a coup d'état and began to exterminate, to physically exterminate all those who were determined to develop normal relations with our country. They simply began to physically exterminate them. It became clear that we would not be allowed to build normal relations with our neighbour.

In addition, after the coup, as you know, the events in Donbass began, the extermination of people in Donbass. This lasted eight years, almost nine, and they simply refused to implement the Minsk agreements, publicly declaring: We will not do it, we do not like anything in these agreements. The fighting continued there, and I think that among those present here there are those who have been following this situation since the first months or have even been in this zone. They will certainly confirm this. Everything that was happening there, especially in the territories occupied by the enemy, was genocide, there is no other way to describe it. People were being exterminated.

There, on the lands that historically belonged to us, Russians were declared a non-titular nation, and the law was passed. I do not want to use offensive language… That is, on the contrary, that is exactly what I want to use. But since the cameras are rolling and there are ladies present, I cannot do it. But I still want to.

In fact, Russians were announced a non-titular nation on our historical lands. They also announced they would not fulfil the Minsk agreements. At the same time, they continued to work on creating an anti-Russia bridgehead on the territory which is now called Ukraine. They started creating an enclave. They deceived us ten times in a row about the non-expansion of NATO. All of this taken together simply did not leave us any choice but to launch the special military operation. But this was not the beginning of the war: they started the war themselves in Donbass in 2014. This is an attempt to end this war. Yes, it involves using armed forces in response to their use of armed forces.

I am confident that we will achieve our goals and objectives.