BIGGEST FEAR

Putin Admits He’s Worried NATO Could Help Ukraine Get Crimea Back

“Let’s imagine that Ukraine is a NATO country and starts these military operations—should we then go to war against NATO?”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday revealed why he’s so worried about Ukraine joining NATO: because the country would then have a much better chance of retaking Crimea. Speaking at a press conference alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin, appearing flustered at times and distracted, was asked by a reporter about the ongoing standoff with the U.S. and its allies in NATO. After first railing against the West for “cheating” Russia by expanding NATO, he admitted he was concerned about Ukraine reclaiming territory occupied by Russia for the past eight years. “In Ukraine’s own doctrine, they have written that they plan to return Crimea, including by military means,” said Putin of the peninsula Russia itself annexed by military means in 2014. “It’s not that they are just saying that publicly, it’s written in doctrine. Imagine that Ukraine is a member of NATO. … And they begin an operation in Crimea, and that’s to say nothing yet of Donbas. It is sovereign Russian territory. That is a closed question. Let’s imagine that Ukraine is a NATO country and starts these military operations—should we then go to war against NATO? Has anybody thought about that? It seems not,” he said.

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Allison QuinnNews Editor

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