Ex-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma said that the most difficult negotiations for the years of his presidency were with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“with Russia. With Putin … Already then the Kremlin preferred not so mutual understanding as submission. It was really difficult to withstand pressure, but it was possible. I will mention at least ace,” said Kuchma in an interview with Ukrainian Pravda. / P>
According to him, the cause of the loss of the Crimea in 2014 was the inaction of the Ukrainian authorities: “The occupation of the Crimea occurred because Ukraine did not defend themselves, and the war in the Donbas began because we began to answer the invaders, transferred to resistance.”
Also, the ex-president stated that if Ukraine had not passed to the “resistance” in the Donbas, it could stop existence as a state.