Putin Says 2014 Western-Backed Coup Triggered Ukraine War

(MENAFN) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday placed the blame for the ongoing Ukraine conflict on what he described as a Western-backed coup in Kyiv in 2014, claiming that subsequent efforts to bring Ukraine into NATO exacerbated tensions with Moscow.

"This crisis did not arise as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but as a result of the coup d’etat in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West, and then by attempts to use armed forces to suppress the resistance of those regions and people who did not accept this coup,” Putin said during remarks at the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, held in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.

The Russian leader asserted that Ukraine’s political leadership was overthrown after 2014 because of its resistance to NATO integration. He emphasized that Western insistence on drawing Ukraine into the alliance amounted to a “direct threat” to Russia’s national security.

Putin said Russia remains committed to finding a “long-term and sustainable” settlement to the war, insisting that a resolution must address what he views as the underlying causes of the conflict.

He also praised the SCO as a key driver of a shifting global balance of power, characterizing the group as a “powerful locomotive” for building a new, multipolar world order. According to him, dominance by North American and European powers is waning.

“A system that would replace the obsolete Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models and take into account the interests of the widest possible range of countries would be truly balanced, and would not allow some states to ensure their security at the expense of others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pushed back sharply against Putin’s claims in a video address on Sunday, saying: “The only one who wants this war is Russia – that is why we will keep up the pressure.”

Zelenskyy accused Moscow of trying to drag out the conflict despite widespread international calls to end the fighting. “Now, during his visit to China, Putin will once again try to wriggle out. That is his number one sport,” he said.

Putin also referenced last month’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska, saying he had briefed Chinese President Xi Jinping on what he called an attempt to “open a road to peace in Ukraine.”

He added that Russia is considering diplomatic proposals from both China and India regarding the war.

Later Monday, Putin held separate talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin. Modi reiterated India’s position on the conflict, saying he welcomed “all the efforts to achieve peace.”

The war, which began in February 2022 when Russia launched a self-described “special military operation” in Ukraine, has killed thousands and displaced millions, triggering Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.

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