Putin warns that sanctions against Russia “are like a declaration of war”

The Russian President, Vladimir Putinhas participated in a meeting with female flight crews from Russian airlines, where she has stated that the intervention in Ukraine it has been a “difficult decision“.

He has again defended that they have done it to achieve “the demilitarization of Ukraine” and thus help “the citizens and residents of Donbas”. “Listen, people in Donbas are not stray dogs. Between 13,000 and 14,000 people have died over the years. More than 500 children have been killed or maimed. But The West preferred not to notice of this for eight years,” Putin said, referring to the war started in 2014 behind the regime change in Kievthe declaration of independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and its repression that provoked over a million refugees.

The Russian president has defended that his country’s proposals to achieve a solution to this conflict are on the negotiating table, that the key is “that demilitarization” and has added that they hope that the Ukrainian government will respond positively.

On the other hand, Putin has warned that the sanctions being imposed against Russia “are like a declaration of war.”

The Russian leader added that decreeing a no-fly over Ukraine, as requested by Zelensky to NATO, would be equivalent to a declaration of war. This request has been denied by the Alliance. And he has also referred to the consequences that the Ukraine’s accession to NATO, something that Kiev has been asking for since 2014. “We began to talk more and more actively about the fact that Ukraine will be accepted into NATO. Do you understand what this could lead to? Or where it can still lead so far?” the Russian leader asked.