Putin regrets not having invaded Ukraine sooner.

Putin regrets not having attacked Ukraine earlier

Russia should have attacked Ukraine sooner, but better preparation was necessary.

This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a speech on a live broadcast connected to the "big" annual press conference on Thursday, December 19.

"If we could look at the situation knowing what is happening now, the situation in 2021, 2022, what I would think: I would think that such a decision, made in early 2022, should have been taken earlier. That’s the first thing. And the second thing, they call it a war against Ukraine - (editor's note)," - Putin stated in response to a question about what he would change in his decision from February 2022, more than two years after the start of the aggressive war against the Ukrainian people.

According to him, Russia "spontaneously" annexed Crimea in 2014, which is why "the events of 2022 also began without any particular preparation."

"Well, why did we start? Because it was no longer possible to stand still and endure, waiting for the situation to worsen for us. After all, the Kyiv authorities announced that they would not comply with the Minsk agreements and made some claims regarding weapons of mass destruction," - noted Putin.

He once again reiterated the points about eight years of "destroying people in Donbas," as well as that Russia was deceived regarding the Minsk agreements.

"If we had known what would happen in advance, we would have certainly conducted such systematic and serious preparation. That’s exactly what I meant," - concluded the Kremlin leader.