Putin: The Soviet conquests of Hungary and Czechoslovakia were wrong

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the invasion of Hungary and Czechoslovakia in Soviet times has been a mistake.

Speaking at a forum east of Russia, he has said it is fair nothing in foreign politics that harms other people interestingly.

He has made these statements as the Russian army continues to fight in Ukraine.

The Soviet Union invaded Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1969, following mass protests and demands for more freedom.

The Russian president has made these statements at the Eastern Economic Forum, which is being held in the eastern Russian town of Vdalvostok.

A moderator has asked how he would respond to those who say the Soviet Union acted as colonial powers when he sent tanks to Prague in 1969 and Budapest in 1956.

We have long acknowledged that some parts of Soviet policies have been wrong and have only led to tension in relations. Nothing should be done in foreign policy that is in contradiction with other people's interests”, Putin has said.

According to him, Western countries, especially the United States, are now making the mistake once made by the Soviets.

They pressure allies, so-called partners. They have no friends. They have interests. This is the continuation of the so-called British formula”.

Putin's comments about the actions of the Soviet Union in Hungary and Czechoslovakia are different from his close circle's views.

In August, a history text written by one of Putin's advisers, Vladimir Medinsky, allegedly claimed that the 1956 Hungarian Revolution has been the fascist uprising organised by the West and that the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary in 1990 has been the wrong decision.

Hungarian politicians and historians have criticised the text.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto had said that “ka matter of Hungary's history we don't even want to debate with anyone. The 1956 revolutionaries are our heroes”.

The Soviet Union was disbanded in 1991, while Czechoslovakia was divided into two states -- the Czech Republic and Slovakia -- with a decision that entered into force on January 1, 1993. /rel