Milorad Dodik underlined the ties between the peoples of the two countries and stressed that Moscow has every right to defend its interests

Ukraine's hostility towards Russia is "unnatural," the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has said. He argued that Kiev's stance has made it a destructive geopolitical force.

In an interview with RT on Thursday, Dodik, who heads the predominantly-Serb region within Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressed strong support for Russia and its military operation against Ukraine, asserting that Moscow has every reason to protect its interests.

He said that as early as in 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin had "acted very fairly" by voicing his opposition to potential Ukrainian membership in NATO while highlighting his desire for peace.

According to Dodik, after the Western-backed coup in Kiev and the start of hostilities in Donbass in 2014, Western nations attempted to deceive Russia through the Minsk agreements, which were meant to de-escalate tensions by granting Donetsk and Lugansk regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

"Russia was not as strong as it is today to be able to step forward and protect some interests," he argued, adding that Moscow genuinely wanted to settle the conflict - a desire that Dodik said was exploited by German and French leaders.

Dodik further pointed to close cultural ties between Russia and Ukraine, drawing the example of the city of Odessa. "Many Russians live there, and they have the right to be in their homeland. Just as Americans have the right to protect every American wherever they are in the world, Russia has a legitimate right to protect its people, especially those who live near Russia."

"Ukraine is not a country that deserves to survive in a geopolitical sense. It turned out to be a serious destructive factor. Moreover, it is anti-Russian. It is unnatural for Ukraine to be anti-Russian," Dodik stressed.

Putin has insisted that Ukraine in its current form is "an artificial state" which was essentially created by the Soviet Union using territories taken from several other nations.

At the same time, he has also stated that "Russia is interested in ensuring that Ukraine eventually becomes a friendly neighboring state" and that it "should not be used as a hostile platform for attacking Russia," referring to Moscow's goal of keeping Kiev out of NATO.

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(RT.com)