"One should always remember that no victory can be achieved without losing. Burning bridges is never an option in politics, never. Such outrageous actions can have really bad consequences. I never took the liberty they afforded – to unleash war on an entire region, running people over with tanks and using artillery, and for what? For not liking you or treating you somewhat below par? Or having an opinion of their own about their future? This is wrong. If you take the history of any country, it never ended well for those who came to power through bloodshed. No amount of power is worth spilling even a drop of blood to obtain. That’s my fundamental principle, but they chose a different path."
January 1, 1970
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Viktor_Yanukovych