Putin: The Cause of the Ukrainian Crisis is the West's Attempts to Drag It into NATO

SadaNews - President Vladimir Putin stated during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China that the Ukraine crisis did not arise due to "Russian aggression," but rather it was a result of a "Western coup" against the authority in Kyiv.

He added: "The West's attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO were central to the causes of the Ukrainian crisis, and Russia adheres to the principle that no state can ensure its security at the expense of others' security".

He continued: "The root causes of the Ukrainian crisis must be addressed in order to achieve a lasting settlement".

Putin expressed hope that the United States would follow the same path in the Ukrainian crisis as China, India, and other countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

He emphasized that Moscow values the efforts of its partners to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, stressing: "The coup in Ukraine in 2014 led to the removal of the political leadership that rejected the country's accession to NATO".