Medvedev: Peacekeepers in Ukraine to Only Mothball Crisis

Peacekeepers will not solve any problem in Ukraine but will only mothball the crisis, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday. “The peacekeeping contingent will not solve anything,” he said. “Unfortunately, it will only mothball the problem.”

Medvedev said “the only way to preserve Ukraine and calm the situation is to create normal conditions for the country’s development,” TASS reports.

He said the de facto authorities should hold dialogue with people and take into account the interests of all ethnic groups, as well as admit that Russians are also citizens of Ukraine and can use their language “which in essence is a second state language (in the country”).

West must help Kiev instead of blaming Russia, says Medvedev

Everyone blaming Russia for “having Ukraine by the throat” should help Kiev, said the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday. “We are always accused for taking one or other decisions that do not allow Ukraine to develop, including those related to gas delivery. Our position is different,” said Medvedev after three-party talks with Belarussian and Kazakh Prime Ministers on Tuesday. “Everyone who says that Ukraine needs help, should do something and first of all, I point out our European and American partners,” Medvedev said.

Ukraine is in anticipation of civil war – Medvedev

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has commented on the situation in Ukraine on his Facebook page. “Blood has again been spilled in Ukraine. The country is in anticipation of civil war. This is very sad,” he wrote.

“The causes of the Ukrainian tragedy lie in the fact that the country’s legitimate authorities made no effort whatsoever to maintain law and order when seizures of administrative buildings began”, while the current illegitimate rulers, who came to power as a result of an armed coup, on the contrary, are “hoping to restore the order they themselves cynically trampled upon” and are “stepping on the same rake”, the premier said.

“Action triggered counteraction. State crimes (the coup in Kiev) triggered mass protests in the regions and a chainlike string of political and economic events,” he added.

Citizens of Ukrainian have a right to participate in the formation of their own statehood based on the equality of nationalities and their languages, Medvedev said.

Peskov: Reports on Russian troops’ presence in Ukraine are absurd

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said on Tuesday that there are no Russian military forces in eastern Ukraine and that any claims of their presence there are absurd.

“This is an absurd assertion, there are no Russian troops there,” the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told a conference call. He suggested that Western governments were deliberately ignoring Russian assurances on this score, saying “one can only express puzzlement that they prefer not to hear all the statements of the Russian side.”

Voice Of Russia

R.S