OREANDA-NEWS. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he considers what is happening in the Donbass to be genocide. It is reported by TASS.

“Let me just add that what is happening in the Donbass is genocide,” the head of the Russian state said at a press conference on Tuesday following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Putin also spoke about Scholz's statement that people of his generation do not imagine a war in Europe:

“We were witnesses of the war in Europe unleashed by the NATO bloc against Yugoslavia. A major military operation with rocket and bomb strikes on one of the European capitals, Belgrade. It was the same. Without UN Security Council sanctions. This is a very bad example, but it was. Do we want it or not? Of course not. That is why we put forward proposals for a negotiation process, the result of which should be an agreement to ensure equal security for all, including our country. Unfortunately, we did not receive a constructive response to our proposals,” Putin stressed.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the recognition of the self-proclaimed republics of the LPR and DPR by Russia would be a violation of the Minsk agreements.