Former Ukrainian PM Nikolai Azarov urges ‘de-Nazification' of Ukraine
According to Azarov, no one has ever done anything on this track in Ukraine, while speaking to Russian state media TASS.
"It is carried out by way of an accomplished fact on the battlefield. The Azov battalion (outlawed in Russia as a terrorist association) was eliminated - that's about all that has been done on the denazification track. Of course, this is a pressing topic," he said.
A far right group in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Azov Battalion has long been accused of being a 'neo-Nazi' militia, due to its use of symbols such as the 'Wolfsangel' rune, and making white supremacist and antisemitic comments during its early formation.
The group's own history is of controversy, as its ties to a neo-Nazi ideology have polarised people, with some calling them Ukrainian nationalists, while others calling them an extremist group who wish to construct a Ukraine based on Nazi ideologies.
According to Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Ukraine can be 'de Nazified', only after the end of the war, be it via military or diplomacy.
At a high-level meeting with Russian foreign ministry officials in mid-June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined Moscow's preconditions for resolving the conflict. These included Ukraine withdrawing its forces from Donbass and Novorossia, abandoning aspirations to join NATO, and committing to a non-bloc, non-nuclear status.
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