Putin Denounces Ukraine’s ‘Crimes’ to Quell Unrest
Local Editor
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine's leaders of committing a ‘grave crime' by using the army to quell unrest in the east of the country, during an annual televised phone-in session at the Gostiny Dvor studio on Thursday.
Replying to questions at an annual Q&A session on Thursday, Putin criticized the coup-imposed Kiev government's actions by saying that:
"Instead of recognizing that something wrong is happening in the Ukrainian state and making an attempt to have dialogue, they started to threaten the people with force and went as far as moving their tanks and planes on to the civilian population. It's another very serious crime by the Kiev leaders," Putin said.
He said the Kiev government should negotiate with those people, not with their henchmen.
Putin further said that, "This is nonsense, there are no Russian troops in the east of Ukraine. No special forces, no instructors. They are all local citizens," adding that the Kiev government should talk to the local residents to tackle the problem, not send in tanks to deal with it.
"All the people that are in the eastern Ukraine are local residents, and the main proof is that they've taken their masks off - literally. It's their home, and they have nowhere to leave to," Putin stressed.
When asked who the people wearing green uniforms that were noticed in Crimea were, Putin answered that those were self-defense squads.
However, he added that during the referendum itself, there were concerns that it could be disrupted, so there were Russian troops behind the self-defense squads to prevent the escalation of the situation and any provocations.
Asked if it was possible that a limited contingent of Russian troops could be deployed in eastern Ukraine or whether the Aviation Forces could be used there, Putin stressed that one shouldn't fall into euphoria after the situation in Crimea and that he hopes for political solution for the crisis.
He further emphasized that Russia did not acquire Crimea by force, but created, with the help of its special forces, conditions for Crimeans to decide upon their own future.
Furthermore, he said that crisis talks taking place in Geneva on Thursday were very important, and urged the government in Kiev to sit down to negotiate with the Russian-speaking communities in the east of the country.
"The start of today's talks are very important, because it is important that we together think about how to get out of the situation," Putin said, referring to the Geneva meeting between Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.
The question and answer session held on Thursday comes as 71 percent Russians say they trust Putin completely or almost completely.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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