Putin promised to write an article on the connection between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples

"I believe that Ukrainians and Russians are generally one people. We are a single whole," the president commented on the question of why Russia did not include Ukraine in the list of unfriendly countries.

The President noted that he did not consider the Ukrainian people unfriendly towards Russia, but added that the current Ukrainian leadership believes differently, adhering to an unfriendly position towards Russia. As an example, Putin cited the draft law on indigenous peoples, which did not include Russians, submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration. Earlier, the Russian president has already spoken negatively about this bill, comparing it with the practice of Nazi Germany.

It's worth reminding that now the list of unfriendly countries for Russia includes two countries: the United States and the Czech Republic. The United States was added to this list due to US sanctions against Russian businesses. Czech Republic - after accusing the country of involvement in the explosions at military depots in Vrbetica . Earlier, the Czech authorities demanded compensation from Russia for these explosions. The amount of the damage caused was estimated at 650 million kroons (about 25.5 million euros). In addition, the country was outraged by the fact that it was included in the list of "unfriendly countries". According to the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Martin Smolek, this violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Cooperation.