“Putin did not want Ukraine to exist” – José Manuel Barroso, ex-President of the Commission

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Russian President Vladimir Putin described Ukraine as an “artificial country created by the CIA and the European Commission”, and did not want it to exist, former European Commission President José Manuel Barroso told Euronews in an exclusive interview.

José Manuel Barroso, who served as Commission president from 2004 to 2014, said Vladimir Putin told him that “his goal was to prevent Ukraine from becoming a fully independent state.”

He said Vladimir Putin’s intention was for Ukraine to remain in the Kremlin’s orbit as a satellite state, similar to Belarus.

“I know because I talked to him about it,” he said.

“He does not want Ukraine to exist or, if it exists, it must be like Belarus, without any independence in foreign policy or defense, in order to be a vassal state. That’s his goal,” he said.

“Vladimir Putin is the non-European leader I have met the most during my ten years in office. I met him 25 times. I know how he feels. I know it,” said the former Portuguese president.

Putin’s first invasion of Crimea and Georgia, as well as the Kremlin-linked assassinations of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, took place during the tenure of José Manuel Barroso.

He recalled that at the time, European countries considered the invasion and annexation of Crimea as a “special case”.

He also said he believed Crimea would never return to Ukraine’s control in possible negotiations to end the war.

“We had in mind, as did European governments, that Crimea was a special case. This is why today, honestly, no one believes that Ukraine will recover Crimea. This is the reality,” he said.

Despite harsh warnings about Vladimir Putin’s intentions, EU member states have expressed reservations about imposing strong sanctions due to internal economic concerns, according to José Manuel Barroso, who also served as Prime Minister of Portugal .