In this photo released by Sputnik news agency on Feb 9, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) speaks during an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Feb 6, 2024. (SPUTNIK, KREMLIN, POOL PHOTO VIA AP)
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia has no intention to invade Poland, Latvia or other countries on the continent, according to reports by TASS news agency on Friday.
Russia would use its troops against Poland "only in one case if Poland attacks Russia," Putin said in an interview with US media personality Tucker Carlson, published on Friday.
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"Why? Because we have no interests in Poland, Latvia or anywhere else. Why do we need that?" said Putin.
Problems in Ukraine
President Putin stressed that Russia has repeatedly sought a peaceful solution to the problems in Ukraine since 2014.
“But no one listened to us. And what's more, the Ukrainian leadership, which was under full control of the United States, suddenly declared that it would not fulfill the Minsk agreements, they did not like anything there, and continued military activity in this territory.”
Meanwhile, the development of the territory by NATO military structures took place under the guise of various training and retraining centers for personnel, he said, adding that they had actually built bases there.
Recalling that the Ukrainian authorities adopted laws that restricted the rights of Russians, he said: “In Ukraine, they declared that Russians are – they passed a law – a non-titular nation, and at the same time they adopted laws that restrict the rights of non-titular nations."
"This all together caused the decision to end the war that was started by neo-Nazis in Ukraine in 2014 by armed means.”
In this photo released by Sputnik news agency on Feb 9, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin (center right) speaks during an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (center left) at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Feb 6, 2024. (SPUTNIK, KREMLIN POOL PHOTO VIA AP)
Gas supply to Europe
President Putin also said Germany does not resume the operation of the surviving pipe of Nord Stream 2, although Russia is ready to supply gas through it.
"The matter is not only about Nord Stream 1, which was blown up. Nord Stream 2 was damaged, but one pipe is safe and sound, and gas can be supplied to Europe through it, but Germany does not open it," he said during the interview.
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"There is another route through Poland, the Yamal-Europe pipeline. It is also possible to carry a large flow," he said, adding that Poland closed it.
The Nord Stream pipelines, which transported natural gas from Russia to European markets via Germany, were severely damaged in September 2022 after blasts in the Baltic Sea.
