Sanctions Against Russia Akin To Declaration Of War: Putin

Khimki/Russia, March 5: The wave of sanctions being imposed on Russia in the wake of its military operation in Ukraine is comparable with a declaration of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.

“These sanctions that are being imposed, they are akin to a declaration of war,” Putin said at a meeting with female flight crews of Russian airlines. Russian President also said that Moscow has been trying to resolve the conflict in Ukraine through peaceful means, decrying Kyiv’s decision to ban the residents of the Donbas region from speaking Russian and practicing their traditional lifestyles. “And we were trying, doing everything to let things develop this [peaceful] way, in order to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and protect the interests of people living in those territories. And what were they demanding? Basic things: the right to speak their native – in this case Russian – language, to live with according to their traditions, their culture,” Putin said while talking to female personnel of Russian airlines.