Russia has always respected and will continue to respect ex-Soviet states' sovereignty - Putin
MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) - Russia has always respected and will continue to respect the sovereignty of former Soviet states, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to the Federal Assembly on Thursday.
"It is well known that Russia not only supported Ukraine and other fraternal republics of the former USSR in their aspiration for sovereignty, but it largely contributed to this process at the turn of the 1990s," Putin said.
"Nothing has changed in our position since then," the Russian president said.
"Each nation holds the integral sovereign right to choose its own path of development, choose its allies and a form for the political organization of its society, as well as the right to build its own economy and ensure its security," he said.
"Russia has always treated and will continue to treat it with respect," Putin said.
"It also fully concerns Ukraine and the fraternal Ukrainian people," he added.