Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow had no other choice but to invade Ukraine to ensure Russia's security, speaking hours after his army crossed his ex-Soviet neighbour's borders.
"What was happening left us with no choice," the Russian leader said during a televised meeting with business representatives, adding that "we had no other way of proceeding".
Putin also said his country wanted to remain part of the world economy and had no plans to harm it.
"Russia remains part of the world economy," Putin told the meeting after he ordered troops to invade Ukraine.
"We are not going to damage the world economic system which we are part of," he said, adding he also did not want Russia to be excluded from the international economic community.
"It seems to me that our partners should understand this and not set themselves the task of pushing us out of this system," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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