At a press conference in St. Petersburg, an advisor to President Vladimir Putin revealed why Russia invaded Ukraine. The reason is astonishing - according to him, the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991, will still exist in 2025.
Anton Kobyakov tried to present the war in Ukraine as an "internal process", focus.de reported.
At the closing press conference of the St. Petersburg Forum on International Law, Putin's advisor Anton Kobyakov stated that the USSR continues to exist. In his speech, he stated that "the legal procedure was violated" at that time and that "this was the opinion of constitutional law experts". According to Putin's advisor, the war in Ukraine is an "internal process."
Kobyakov claims that the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Agreement (of December 8, 1991) was "strange" from a legal point of view.
"These acts were ratified by the Supreme Soviets of the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Belarusian SSR, and this is not at all within their legal powers," the presidential advisor believes.
The Russian presidential advisor's claims are likely part of an attempt to prepare the ground for the Kremlin to present the war in Ukraine as an "internal Russian matter," in which foreign countries should not interfere - even in peace negotiations to end the war, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War. The Kremlin has long claimed that Russia is the legitimate successor to both the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.
Putin and his entourage have repeatedly questioned Ukraine's right to exist as an independent state, free to choose its future and its political and military allies.
The war in Ukraine began with the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. In 2022, the Russian army launched a full-scale invasion, and the war continues to this day. Moscow claims that it is not abandoning its original goals - the surrender of Kiev - and refuses to negotiate peace.