Zelensky Called Russians and Ukrainians One People in 2014

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who, commenting on the direct line with Vladimir Putin, did not agree with his thesis that Ukrainians and Russians are one people, back in 2014, he had a different opinion.

In April 2014, Zelensky with the Kvartal 95 studio was on tour in Donetsk, during which he gave an interview to the Donetsk Municipal Gazette. Answering a journalist’s question about the anti-Russian nature of many of the artists’ numbers, Zelensky said that he considers Ukrainians and Russians to be one people.

“In principle, we cannot be against the Russian people, because we are one people. The problems of the Russian government and its relationship, due to various circumstances, to the government of Ukraine have poured out on you and me. And our “quarter ”position is not for the government of Ukraine, but for the Ukrainian people. And not against the Russian people, but against the Russian government. How can we not love him? We are not idiots! We read the same books. But we do not hesitate to show our attitude towards the government of the Russian Federation. How, in fact, the attitude towards our government,” Zelensky said.

The thesis that Russians and Ukrainians are one people 7 years later was repeated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a direct line .

“I do not think that the Ukrainian people are unfriendly. I generally believe that the Russian and Ukrainian people are one people,” Putin said.

After that, Zelensky, already president, said that Ukrainians and Russians are “definitely not the same people.“

“Let’s finally dot the i’s. We are definitely not one people. Yes, we have a lot in common. We have a common part of history, memory, neighborhood, relatives, common victory over fascism and common tragedies. Yes, all of this it is extremely important, and we remember this. And, perhaps, we will have something in common in the future, if it is not too late to stop the total division between our countries. But we, I repeat once again, are not one people. We would be one people, then in Moscow, most likely, hryvnia would have flown, and a yellow-blue flag was flying over the State Duma. So, we are definitely not one people. Each of us has our own path, “said Vladimir Zelensky.

Source Strana