Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that peace with Ukraine will be achieved "when Russia achieves its goals: denazification, demilitarization and neutral status of Ukraine." He said this during his first final press conference in two years, combined with a "direct line".
"There will be peace when we achieve our goals," he said. - "They do not change. Let me remind you what we talked about then: denazification of Ukraine, demilitarization, and its neutral status."
Speaking about denazification, Putin said that earlier during the talks, representatives of the Ukrainian side "generally disagreed that any denazification was needed" and said that "there is no growth in such sentiments."
"Well, how could there not be, when a national hero, a well-known not just nationalist, but Nazi Bandera, is elevated to the rank of national hero. How can you not? And when the head of today's Kyiv administration gives a standing ovation to a former SS soldier in front of the whole world? Someone who directly participated in the Holocaust, the destruction of one and a half million Jews in Ukraine, Russians and Poles, gives a standing ovation. Isn't this a manifestation of Nazism? Therefore, the issue of denazification is relevant," Putin said.
As a reminder, the incident to which Putin referred took place on September 22, 2023. During a speech in the Canadian Parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota introduced 98-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Hunko as "a hero who fought for Ukraine's independence against the Russians" during World War II. The parliament and Zelensky greeted Hunko with applause, but it later turned out that he served in the 14th SS Division "Galicia."
