"It would be good to make sure that the Donbass would not consider the Ukrainian army as invaders in their own country, that's what you need to think about," Putin said, answering a question if the Russians would "remain occupants in the eyes of the Ukrainians" following Putin's retirement.
Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of a coup. In February 2015, the two sides reached a ceasefire deal after talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine — the so-called Normandy Format — in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Kiev has been reluctant to implement a number of Minsk deal provisions.
