"Looking at the biography of the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, you experience a feeling of hatred, contempt and disgust," Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

The Russian official then elaborated on his statement and clarified that "hatred" was geared towards "everyone involved in the collapse of the Soviet Union (and, in fact, the Russian Empire)," adding that "as a result of which a huge country that balanced the world order disappeared, and millions of people were doomed to suffering and death."

Moreover, "contempt" was directed toward "Western countries" that had "manically, frantically, and in every possible way, pushed the peoples of Russia and Ukraine (or rather, the united Russian people) towards a new civil war."

"Disgust" however, was felt for Syrsky, which Medvedev described as "a man who was a Soviet Russian officer, but became a Bandera traitor who broke his oath and serves the Nazis."

Medvedev underscored that Syrsky now strives toward "destroying his loved ones" and because of that, the Russian official proclaimed "Let the ground burn under his feet!"

This comes after Medvedev commented on the interview between journalist Tucker Carlson and Russian President Vladimir Putin wherein "the President of Russia told the Western world as carefully and in as much detail as possible why there was no Ukraine, no, and never will be."

Carlson's interview with Putin

On Thursday, Carlson aired his interview with Putin, marking the first occasion of a Western journalist conducting such an interview since the launch of the special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin explains 'history of Ukraine' 

During the interview, Putin began by outlining the centuries-old history of Ukraine, claiming that the term originated from the Poles. He argued that the southern Russian territories, previously part of the Polish-Lithuanian state, were considered a suburb by the Poles.

"It didn't define it as belonging to any ethnic group," Putin told Carlson.

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"What matters is that the war began and Poland fell prey to the policies it had pursued against Czechoslovakia. This under the well-known Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, a part of the territory including western Ukraine was to be given to Russia, thus Russia, which was then named the USSR regained its historical lands," said Putin.

"Romania and Hungary had some of their lands taken away and given to the Soviet Ukraine, and they still remain part of Ukraine. So in this sense, we have every reason to affirm that Ukraine is an artificial state that was shaped at Stalin's will," Putin explained.

'Coup in Ukraine provoked the conflict': Putin

Carlson asked Putin if he had suggested to Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary that he could claim "part of Ukraine."

Putin responded unequivocally, "never".
 
"In 2008, the doors of NATO were opened for Ukraine. In 2014, there was a coup. They started persecuting those who did not accept the coup. And it was indeed a coup. They created the threat to Crimea, which we had to take under our protection. They launched the war in Donbass in 2014 with the use of aircraft and artillery against civilians. This is when it all started," said Putin.

The President said that the coup in Ukraine was what provoked the conflict, adding that the CIA did its job to complete the coup.

Putin wanted to negotiate settlement with Ukraine

Putin further mentioned that he had engaged in multiple discussions with the US regarding the militarization of Ukraine by the West. He emphasized that Ukraine had begun preparations for military action.

The Russian president also clarified that he had desired to negotiate a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.

"We prepared the huge document in Istanbul that was initialed by the head of the Ukrainian delegation. He had fixed his signature to some of the provisions, not to all of it. He put his signature and then he himself said, we were ready to sign it, and the war would have been over long ago. 18 months ago. However, Prime Minister Johnson came, talked Ukraine out of it and we missed that chance," said Putin.

Throughout the interview, Putin asserted that Ukraine decided to cease negotiations with Russia under pressure from the US.

When asked about whether Russia has achieved its objectives, Putin responded that it had not yet done so, as one of its aims is de-Nazification, entailing the prohibition of all neo-Nazi movements.

He elaborated that Ukraine had sought to establish an identity after gaining independence, drawing upon individuals who had collaborated with Adolf Hitler as a basis for that identity.

'US promised NATO would not expand eastward'

Carlson then questioned the president if he had perceived a physical threat from the West, particularly from NATO, including the possibility of a nuclear threat. Carlson also inquired if this perceived threat had prompted Putin's actions toward Ukraine.

"The former Russian leadership assumed that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist, and therefore there were no longer any ideological dividing lines. Russia even agreed voluntarily and proactively to the collapse of the Soviet Union and believed that this would be understood by the so-called civilized West as an invitation for cooperation and association. That is what Russia was expecting, both from the United States and this so-called collective West as a whole," said Putin.

Putin also added that the West had assured Russia that NATO would not expand eastward, yet it had occurred on five separate occasions.
 
"The promise was that NATO would not expand eastward. But it happened five times. There were five waves of expansion. We tolerated all that. We were trying to persuade them. We were saying, please don't. We are as bourgeois now as you are. We are a market economy and there is no Communist Party power. Let's negotiate," the president explained.

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