Ukraine action aimed to end ‘war’ raging since 2014: Putin

. Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow’s action in Ukraine was intended to stop a “war” that has raged in eastern Ukraine for many years.

Speaking at a meeting with veterans, Putin said Moscow had long sought to negotiate a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, where Russia-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014.

“Large-scale combat operations involving heavy weapons, artillery, tanks and aircraft haven’t stopped in Donbas since 2014,” Putin said.

“All that we are doing today as part of the special military operation is an attempt to stop this war. This is the meaning of our operation protecting people who live on those territories.”

On Wednesday, Putin again insisted that Russia had tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement before sending in troops, but “we were just duped and cheated”.

He described Ukraine’s east as Russia’s “historic territories”, adding that Moscow conceded their loss after the 1991 Soviet collapse but had to act to protect Russian speakers there.

Putin has explained his decision to send troops into Ukraine on February 24 by the need to protect Russian speakers and conduct “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine to prevent it from posing a threat to Russia claims rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies as a cover for an unprovoked act of

aggression.