"I will not hide, that we helped Yaunkovych move to Crimea," Putin said, according to "Ukrainskaya Pravda."
Ukraine's Prime Minister has said that Russia's falling economy could harm Ukraine. It is clear that with the [ruble] falling, the Russians will try to sell their goods in Ukraine because there are competitive advantages," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Friday.
Putin has responded to a quote attributed to First Deputy Head of The Presidential Administration Vyacheslav Volodin, "If there's Putin, there's Russia, if there's no Putin, there is no Russia."
Putin said, "Russia fills my whole life and I can't imagine myself without it for a second," according to Tass. "I feel an inner connection with the Russian land and the Russian people and I wouldn't be able to live outside of Russia."
"Russia, of course, can do without someone like me," he said, according to Dozhd.
Putin has claimed that Crimea being annexed to Russia does not mean that it disrespects Ukraine's sovereignty. "As a result of a government coup supported by our Western partners, the people of Crimea got scared and decided to take care of the future, their own and of their children as well, and used the right to self-determination international law provides for," he said at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, according to Tass. "That does not mean that we disrespect the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state on the whole."
From the German news agency dpa:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused Ukraine of lacking political will to solve the bloody conflict with pro-Russian separatists - just hours after he pleaded for new peace talks.
"We do not see a desire of our partners in Kiev to solve the problem of its relations with the south-east of Ukraine by a peaceful political process," Putin told a conference of international Russia experts in Sochi that was broadcast on television.
The Russian leader warned that any attempt of a forceful solution
will create an impasse. If Ukraine wants to retain its territorial
integrity, it needs to end the war immediately, he said.
Interesting read from Interfax headlined: "Putin Slams Yanukovych's Behavior Before Ouster":
Russian President Vladimir Putin has slammed the conduct of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych after the latter signed a landmark European Union-brokered agreement with the then opposition on February 21.
Speaking at a conference of the Valdai international discussion club, Putin said he had a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama after the signature of the pact, which had guarantees from the foreign ministers of three EU countries behind it.
"We discussed those matters. We mentioned ways in which we would help implement that agreement. Russia made certain commitments, and I heard my American counterpart say he was ready to make certain commitments as well," the Russian president said.
The same day, Putin said, he had a phone call from Yanukovych, who said "he believed the situation had stabilized and he was going to go to a conference in Kharkiv."
"I must admit that I expressed some concern, I asked whether it was a good idea to leave the capital in such a situation. He answered that he believed that it was safe because there was a signed document. I'll tell you more: I answered him, saying that I doubted it would all be so well but that it was his own responsibility -- he was the president, after all," Putin said.
He said he had advised Yanukovych not to withdraw security forces from Kyiv for a while. "He said yes, of course, I realize that. He then went away and ordered all the law enforcement forces to be withdrawn from Kyiv. Great performance!" Putin said.
After that armed men seized the headquarters of the president's office in Kyiv and government and opened fire on a motorcade in which the prosecutor general was traveling, the Russian leader said.
Yanukovych then asked to meet with Putin in Rostov-on-Don in Russia because he claimed he didn't want to be too far from Ukraine. But then it turned out that Yanukovych wouldn't be able to get to Rostov because "they started aiming their rifles at him," Putin said.
As a result, Yanukovych was taken to Crimea and was then helped to flee to Russia, according to Putin.