Putin calls military operation in Ukraine 'forced measure'

MOSCOW

Russia's military intervention in Ukraine was a "forced measure," President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"What is happening is a forced measure. We were left no choice to act differently," Putin said at meeting with Russian businesses in Moscow, underlining that there had been "such risks in the security domain that there were no other means to react."

He said all Russia's attempts to address the security issues had been fruitless and yielded not even "a millimeter" of progress, stressing that Moscow had faced existential risks.

On Western sanctions, Putin said Russia remains a part of the global economy and that it would not harm this system while inside it.

"Our partners have to understand this, and not set a goal of pushing us out of this system," he noted.

He asked the business representatives to treat "what is happening with understanding" and work with the government in search of tools that would support the economy and industry.

As for the government, he said its main task would be to provide favorable conditions and predictability for businesses.

"We cannot forecast geopolitical risks but in relations between the government and business, you have the right to expect predictability," he said.

Appearing distraught, the business representatives expressed hope that Russia would not be closed off to the global economy and complained about sanctions that they said made their work extremely difficult.

Donbas crisis and Russia's military intervention

Ukraine's February 2014 "Maidan revolution" caused President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country and a pro-Western government to come to power. Russia then illegally annexed Crimea, and separatists in eastern Ukraine declared their so-called administrations of Donetsk and Luhansk, both home to large ethnic Russian populations.

Deadly clashes broke out between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army. The 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements, signed in Moscow with the intervention of Western powers, sought to stop the conflict but cease-fire violations continued, resulting in some 14,000 deaths as of February.

Late last year, Russia made headlines by deploying tens of thousands of its troops on the border with Ukraine, with the US accusing it of gearing up for an invasion -- claims Moscow denied. Amid threats of Western sanctions, Moscow recognized the separatist administrations in Donbas earlier this week and launched a military operation in Ukrainian territory on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the operation's aim was to protect people "subjected to genocide" by Kyiv and to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. He called on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.