By saying “one people,” Putin is not saying that Ukrainians are Russians or Russians are Ukrainians. He’s not denying their differences. But he is pointing, with passion, to their common background and feelings of connection, because it feels so wrong to so many Russians and Ukrainians to be turned against one another by Western powers, including groups such as NATO, the Atlantic Council, and the National Endowment for “Democracy,” who find some sort of pecuniary, economic, political, military, or psychological benefits out of rending the unity between Russians and Ukrainians.

Furthermore, when Putin speaks of the “unity” between Ukraine and Russia, he’s not speaking of any wish to dissolve the political borders and combine the two nations. Absolutely not. He compares the type of relationship Russia seeks with Ukraine to that between Canada and the US, and between Austria and Germany. When he speaks of “one people,” he’s not suggesting that Ukrainians are really Russians.