Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned Kosovo once again, stating that its case has become a precedent for the self-proclaimed Russian republics in Donbas and Luhansk, according to the United Nations Charter.
During the speech at the "International Economic Forum" in St. Petersburg, Putin repeated the statements he had made a few days after Russia recognized the two republics in Ukraine as independent.
"When Kosovo became independent, under pressure from international states, the International Court of Justice declared that the international law of the United Nations was not violated. It means that the central government should not be asked to become independent. "This was a precedent ," Putin said.
He said this means that the two Donbas regions, Luhansk and Donetsk, do not need to get permission from Kiev. These two regions declared independence after Russia launched its occupation of Ukraine. " They declared independence. Do we have the right to know them? "Of course it is ," Putin said.
Putin also stressed that after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, "the West returned to the partition of Kosovo from Serbia." According to him, Western countries launched large-scale wars, including Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.
"But the thing is that such situations developed as they wanted, and not as they should. In many cases, for example in Yugoslavia - the state was divided. After the USSR other countries emerged and new interests exploded. There were internal contradictions and they fostered them. Then they started to separate Kosovo from Serbia. "It's not clear why," he said.