Putin denies plans to attack Europe, says war against Ukraine is “defense of interests”

He made the remarks during a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on the sidelines of the SCO summit in China, according to the Russian state outlet RIA Novosti.

According to Putin, claims that Moscow plans to attack the EU are allegedly Western fabrications.

“They are specialists in fairy tales and horror stories. Any reasonable person understands perfectly well that Russia is not going to attack anyone,” Putin said.

He defended the war against Ukraine by insisting that Moscow was supposedly “forced to protect people who have tied their fate to Russia.”

“The only goal of Russia in Ukraine is to defend its own interests,” the Kremlin chief stressed.

Putin also commented on strikes against energy infrastructure, shifting the blame to Ukraine: “Moscow tolerated for a long time when Ukrainians struck Russian energy facilities, and then began to respond seriously.”

He added that Kyiv’s attempts to damage Russia also “hurt Moscow’s partners.”

Separately, Putin addressed Ukraine’s European integration. He claimed Russia “never opposed Ukraine’s membership in the EU,” but called its accession to NATO completely unacceptable.

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