(ANSA) - MOSCOW, JUNE 13 - The relationship between Russia and Ukraine will be restored regardless of the nature of relations with Ukrainian elites, Russian president Vladimir Putin told Mir TV channel in an exclusive interview. "The rebuilding of our relations is inevitable: what we have today is not a normal situation between parts of a single people or between two brother peoples, regardless of our relations with the elites, even the former political elites, people who gave priority above all to personal success, personal profit and preservation of capital accumulated at the expense of the Ukrainian people, and set aside somewhere abroad". "I think - Putin added - that this is the reason for their special love for the West, but, hopefully, the new leadership has no such restrictions and feels free, relying on the trust it was given by the people of Ukraine and I think they will be able to act with energy". Interfax reported. (ANSA).