Director Mikhalkov believes that Ukraine and Belarus could have joined the ideal Russia 
Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov in the Right to Know! on TVC answered the question of the international observer of “Kommersant” Maxim Yusin about the boundaries of the ideal Russia. The release is available on YouTube.
According to Mikhalkov, such a Russia should definitely not include the Baltic states, because it “lives its own life, and it needs a lot from us, but we need nothing from it.”
“If you think about Western Ukraine, this is something that will never really grow,” the director said, noting that all of Ukraine can become part of an ideal Russia along with Belarus. Mikhalkov stressed that this is not “imperial manners”, but his organic feeling.
In February, the head of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Alexander Tkachenko, suggested opening a criminal case against Mikhalkov. According to him, certain Russian cultural figures should be prosecuted and at the same time banned from distributing their works in the country.
Crimea became part of Russia in March 2014 following a referendum in which the majority of the region's residents supported such a decision. Ukraine, the countries of the European Union and the United States decided not to recognize the results of the vote.