(RIA Novosti – July 19, 2017)

Vladimir Putin’s aide Vladislav Surkov has offered reserved praise for an idea put forward by a key Russia-backed rebel to set up a new state in Ukraine.

According to a pro-Kremlin pundit, Surkov called Alexander Zakharchenko’s proposed country of Malorossiya “imaginary”, but said discussions around it were “useful”.

“All this hype over the imaginary state of Malorossiya is, overall, useful. The main thing is that Donbass is fighting not for its secession from Ukraine but for its [Ukraine’s] unity. For all of Ukraine, not a part of it. That is to say, civil war is under way in Ukraine between people who see the future of their country differently,” Surkov told a meeting of experts, according to the head of the Centre for Current Policy, Alexei Chesnakov, who took part in the meeting.

“Ideological warfare is part of any war, with slogans and utopias pitted against one another,” Surkov also said, according to Chesnakov, who was interviewed by RIA Novosti, a state news agency.

“Kiev has a Euro-utopia. Donetsk responds with a Malorossiya idea. A wide-ranging intra-Ukrainian discussion breaks out, which shows the quarrelling parties’ level of organisation, arguments and IQ. And the IQ reflects the nation, to use Malorossiya speak,” Surkov said, mixing Russian and Ukrainian words in the last sentence, as quoted by Chesnakov.

[featured image is file photo]

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