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| Vladimir Putin |
Moscow - The West seeks to "divide" Russia in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin denounced on Sunday, who believes that the Kremlin's military offensive in the neighboring country, which began ten months ago, will strengthen "the union of the Russian people."
"Everything is based on the policy of our geopolitical adversaries, who seek to divide Russia, historical Russia," Putin said in an interview, an excerpt of which was released on Russian television.
"Our goal is another: to unite the Russian people," he added. The Russian leader often refers to the concept of "historic Russia" to argue that Ukrainians and Russians are one people, undermining Kiev's sovereignty and justifying its offensive in Ukraine.
"We are acting in the right direction, we are protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, of our people," he continued.
During the interview, Putin again denounced the position of Kiev and its Western allies who, according to him, "reject negotiations." Putin, on the other hand, is "ready to negotiate with all participants in this process [to find] acceptable solutions" to the conflict.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to negotiate with Moscow "as long as Putin is president." He insists he wants to take back the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow at the end of September — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson --, as well as the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.
"We will destroy it!"
The Ukrainian president traveled to Washington on Wednesday, where he won firm pledges of support from his US counterpart, Joe Biden.
The United States promised Ukraine a new $45 billion aid package and delivery of the Patriot air defense system.
In the excerpt of the interview released on Sunday, Putin said he wanted to eliminate these missiles.
"Of course we will destroy it, 100%!" he said, just three days after saying his army would find "an antidote" to dodge a "pretty old system."
On the ground, a wave of missiles hit the center of Kherson, a city in southern Ukraine recaptured by Kiev on Nov. 11 after eight months of Russian occupation.
The attacks, described as an act of "terror" by Zelenskiy, left at least 10 dead and 55 wounded on Christmas Eve.
Throughout the day, Russia launched 41 missiles at the city, according to a Ukrainian army report.
Vladimir Saldo, the head of the authorities imposed by Moscow in Kherson, blamed Ukraine for the bombing and said it was "a disgusting provocation with the intention, of course, of blaming the armed forces of the Russian Federation."
— Christmas in Kiev -
In Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, the Orthodox celebrated Christmas with Catholics on Sunday, two weeks before their traditional holidays.
This conflict "brought us so much pain," Olga Stanko told AFP at a church downtown. "We cannot continue under Russian influence," he added.
In recent weeks, the military conflict has moved to the religious terrain. Ukraine, a country with an Orthodox majority, is divided between a Church that depends on the Moscow Patriarchate and a Church independent of Russian influence.
The Church that depends on the Moscow Patriarchate announced in mid-May that it was breaking its ties with Russia in the wake of the offensive in Ukraine.
The one that is independent of Russia was created at the end of 2018 and depends on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which has its headquarters in Istanbul.
According to an Interfax-Ukraine poll conducted in November, 44% of Ukrainians agreed with the idea of celebrating Christmas on December 25 instead of January 7, the date of Orthodox Christmas.
During his traditional Christmas message in St. Peter's Square in Rome, Pope Francis urged "silencing the guns" in Ukraine.
"May the Lord dispose us to make concrete gestures of solidarity to help those who are suffering, and enlighten the minds of those who have the power to silence the guns and put an immediate end to this senseless war," he said.
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