Croatia leader slams West talk about tearing Russia apart as madness
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The Croatian President says Crimea will never be part of Ukraine again.
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Croatian President Zoran Milanovic speaks during his swearing-in ceremony, on February 18, 2020.
The President of Croatia called the western supply of arms to Kiev madness, noting that the weapons provided to Ukraine including the battle tanks will extend the war.
“I am against sending any lethal arms there,” Milanovic said. “It prolongs the war.” “What is the goal? Disintegration of Russia, change of the government? There is also talk of tearing Russia apart. This is mad,” said President Zoran Milanovic.
Croatia is a NATO member, and its president has repeatedly called on the country not to be part of the alliance's hostility toward Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Although the president's post in Croatia is ceremonial, the president in the EU country is also the chief of the armed forces.
Earlier this month, Croatia's leader said the United States and NATO are engaged in proxy warfare against Russia on the territory of Ukraine.
"Washington and NATO are waging a proxy war against Russia with the help of Ukraine," he stated then.
Sanctions against Russia are "absurd" and "can achieve nothing," he further added.
Milanovic voiced on Monday concerns on regular basis regarding the West's transfer of weapons to Kiev and criticized western's policies toward Moscow.
Milanovic added that it is "mad" to believe that the West can defeat Russia in a conventional war.
The Croatian President went to the point that he opposed the accession of Sweden and Finland to the NATO alliance and the training of Ukrainian forces in the country.
Milanovic said that “from 2014 to 2022, we are watching how someone provokes Russia with the intention of starting this war."
“What is the goal of this war? A war against a nuclear power that is at war in another country? Is there a conventional way to defeat such a country?” Milanovic asked.
“Who pays the price? Europe. America pays the least,” he noted.
“A year has passed and we are only now talking about tanks,” Milanovic said, adding that “not a single American tank will go to Ukraine in a year. Only German tanks will be sent there."
Earlier, the Croatian Parliament rejected the government’s proposal to allow the Ukrainian military to train in Croatia. In this regard, Milanovic warned that training Ukrainian troops in EU countries posed dangerous consequences.
Crimea will go back to Ukraine
Croatia's President considered that the Crimean peninsula will never be part of Ukraine again.
What the West is doing with regards to Ukraine [supply of weapons] "is deeply immoral because there is no solution (to the war)," Milanovic said during a visit to military barracks in Petrinja.
"It is clear that Crimea will never again be part of Ukraine," Milanovic added.
