«Honestly, we were late to orient ourselves»: Putin on the special operation in Ukraine

Russia should have acted "earlier" regarding the situation in Ukraine, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference following his visit to Kyrgyzstan.

“Honestly, we were apparently late to orient ourselves. Perhaps it was necessary to start all this sooner. We were just hoping that we could reach an agreement within the framework of the Minsk peace agreements,” Putin stated.

Earlier, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the Minsk agreements were an attempt to give Ukraine time to strengthen itself.

Putin noted that he considers Merkel’s remarks as evidence of the correctness of Moscow's position regarding the initiation of a special military operation in Ukraine. According to him, trust in the relations between Russia and the West is already “almost at zero level,” but after Merkel's statement, “it is unclear how to negotiate - with whom and under what guarantees.”