The interview Ramos-Horta gave was the first sit-down of the country's leader with a Russian media outlet.
According to the president, it is important to understand the reasons for the conflict in Ukraine and to realize that the special military operation did not begin overnight.
"Well, let's go back to the end of the Cold War. The negotiations and agreements for the dismantling of Warsaw Pact, Russia's withdrawal from East Germany and Eastern Europe, and what? Do not encroach on Russia's security sphere! No moving NATO! But NATO kept expanding. More and more. There was interference in Ukraine, the so-called Velvet Revolution. And then, God, you know, Russian citizens, Russian language's harass, ban Russian language in Ukraine," Ramos-Horta said.
He said Kiev's actions were like "the inability in the Balkans to show sensitivity, respect to the Serbian minority like in Kosovo."