Russia's financial aid to Ukraine has no relation to demonstrations, Kyiv's talks with EU - Putin
Russia's financial assistance to Ukraine has no relation to demonstrations of supporters of Ukraine's European integration at Independence Square (Maidan) in Kyiv or Ukraine's negotiations with the European Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"This has nothing to do with Maidan, nor does it have to do with Ukraine's Euro-negotiations. We simply see that Ukraine is in a difficult situation and needs to be supported. And we have such an opportunity, and we are taking it," Putin said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
Russia and Ukraine have special relations, and Moscow is interested in preserving this cooperation, he said.
"Commodity flows and engineering products coming to us from Ukraine are a legacy of cooperation we have inherited from the Soviet Union era. There were a lot of archaic things there, but, generally speaking, these are our huge common competitive advantages that need to be wisely used and developed. And we can do this to the benefit of both the Ukrainian and Russian economy," he said.
