MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin said relations with Ukraine are of key and fundamental importance for Russia.
"Relations with Ukraine and its fraternal people are and will remain of key and fundamental importance for us. It's no exaggeration," Putin told the Federal Assembly on Tuesday.
He said the Crimea's location outside Russia is a "flagrant historical injustice." "Citizens and many of the public figures have been raising this issue repeatedly over these years. They kept arguing that the Crimea is a historically Russian territory, while Sevastopol is a Russian city," Putin said.
"Indeed, all of us were well aware of that. We could feel that with our hearts and souls. But we needed to abide by the reality and build good-neighborly relations with independent Ukraine on a new basis," Putin said.