Kremlin: Post-2014 period marked start of “new reality” for Russia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a new historical era can be traced back to 2014, describing the period after that year as a turning point when “everything changed,” in an interview with TASS.

“I would say that, probably, we should measure it from after 2014. After 2014, everything changed,” he said when asked to define the current era, including whether it could be considered as beginning around 2020. Peskov linked the shift to developments in Europe and to what he described as the West’s role in the 2014 change of power in Ukraine.

“And it was then that a certain Rubicon was crossed. That was when a new reality began, which required decisive actions from us. And our president made the corresponding decision, which required, I would say, a shift in conceptual approaches toward those whom we previously considered our partners. It demanded greater determination in defending our interests and subsequently made the start of the special military operation inevitable and necessary,” the Kremlin representative said.

Peskov added that he currently finds it difficult to assign a definitive label to the present historical period.

“How to describe this time in a single word — I don’t yet know. Let’s wait; too few years have passed. To characterise a ten-year period in historical retrospect, one needs some distance from it, so that the broader picture becomes clearer, I think. What is certain is that this is now a time of heroes. But I would still prefer to live through a bit more time and then look back. Only then, when we can say that we have adapted to the new conditions, found our place, and that our place corresponds to our country’s potential,” Peskov concluded.

By Tamilla Hasanova