On Monday, publishing a nearly 7,000-word essay, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukrainian leaders that they would “destroy their country” by moving closer to the West.

As Putin put it, “All the tricks associated with the anti-Russia project are clear to us. And we will never allow our historical territories and people who are close to us living there to be used against Russia. And to those [Ukrainians] who make such an attempt, I want to say that in this way they will destroy their country.”