Lavrov: Ukraine Gov’t Gets Orders from Radicals

Local Editor

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday the Ukrainian government was taking orders from extremists and denied Moscow had any direct role in the crisis in Crimea.

"The interim government... is not independent. It depends, unfortunately, on radical nationalists who carried out an armed coup," Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.

He further stated: "We are ready to continue the dialogue on the understanding that the dialogue must be honest, partnership-like, without attempts to show us almost as a party to the conflict."

Earlier, Lavrov told his US counterpart on Friday that any sanctions introduced by the US against Russia will have a "boomerang" effect and urged Washington to steer away from actions that could hurt relations between the countries.

He told Washington to refrain from "hasty and reckless" decisions over Ukraine that would deteriorate US-Russia relations, RIA Novosti reported.

His comments were made during a telephone call with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
The foreign minister warned that any sanctions against Russia "would inevitably hit the United States like a boomerang."

On Thursday, the US imposed visa restrictions on Russian and Crimean officials and private citizens who they accused of "threatening Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity," the White House said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team