PUTIN: WEST’S DECISIONS ON DIVIDING SERB PEOPLE AMONG SEVERAL STATES CONTRARY TO UN PRINCIPLES

MOSCOW, JULY 26 /SRNA/ – Russian President Vladimir Putin said that West’s decisions on dividing the Serb people among several different states were contrary to the principles of the UN.

"I'm not going to make evaluations, as it is a complex process, but the decisions to divide the Serb people into different nation-states were made in a way that was not consistent with the principles on which the UN was founded. They simply let the genie out of the bottle," Putin said.

Speaking at a meeting with commanders of the Russian Navy, he recalled that, during the presidency of Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia had been promised that NATO would not expand, but that one round of enlargement followed another.

"Despite our numerous protests and everything else, they paid no attention whatsoever to their promises or to the security interests of the Russian Federation. They continued expanding and eventually reached Ukraine," Putin said.

He noted that Ukraine's president at the time had supported joining the EU but opposed NATO membership.

"What did they do? They carried out a coup d'état," Putin stressed.

He further stated that Ukraine would eventually lose its western territories, which had once belonged to Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

"That will not happen tomorrow, perhaps not even the day after tomorrow. It may take one year, two years, ten or fifteen years. But history will ultimately put everything in its proper place," the Russian leader said.

He added that Russia had been the sole guarantor of Ukraine's territorial integrity, but that Kyiv had declared Moscow an enemy and had designated Russians as a "non-titular nation," reports Sputnik.

"That is complete nonsense, utter absurdity... How is that even possible?" Putin asked.