Decision to launch special operation in Ukraine was ‘difficult’: Putin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the decision to launch a special operation in Ukraine was not an easy one.

“I said about it at the beginning of the operation and had been saying before that decision was made. This is a difficult decision, without a doubt,” Putin said while meeting with female aircraft personnel of Russian airlines.

Russian President also said that Moscow has been trying to resolve the conflict in Ukraine through peaceful means, decrying Kiev’s decision to ban the residents of the Donbas region from speaking Russian and practicing their traditional lifestyles.

“And we were trying, doing everything to let things develop this [peaceful] way, in order to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and protect the interests of people living in those territories. And what were they demanding? Basic things: the right to speak their native – in this case Russian – language, to live with according to their traditions, their culture,” Putin said while talking to female personnel of Russian airlines.