All news

Putin’s spokesman: External interference into Ukraine’s affairs inadmissible

"We keep a close watch on what is going on in Kiev anxiously and sometimes with a sore heart," Dmitry Peskov said
Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze
Russian president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov
© ITAR-TASS/Zurab Dzhavakhadze

MOSCOW, January 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia considers external interference into Ukraine’s domestic affairs inadmissible, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

“Russia and Ukraine are two fraternal nations and undoubtedly, we keep a close watch on what is going on in Kiev anxiously and sometimes with a sore heart,” he said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

“It is absolutely inadmissible for us to interfere into domestic affairs. We are confident that the Ukrainian authorities know what to do and will find best solutions to bring the situation back to normal, onto a legal and peaceful track,” Peskov said, adding that the two countries were linked “by rather multifaceted, large-scale and long-term cooperation.”

“Therefore we are absolutely inevitable partners for each other,” he said.

“We do not think we have the right to interfere somehow into domestic affairs of fraternal Ukraine. This is inadmissible and Russia has not done this before and will not do this in the future,” Peskov added.

“Any decisions made in Kiev are sovereign and they are made by that country’s authorities within the framework of democratic processes. Any interference and exerting influence with the use of some or other political management tools is unacceptable for us,” the spokesperson said, expressing indignation over external attempts to influence the situation in Ukraine.

“Of course, we feel regret and indignation when external interference into domestic processes in Kiev becomes evident,” Peskov said. “We absolutely cannot understand when foreign states’ ambassadors working in Kiev say what the Ukrainian authorities should do, from where they should withdraw interior troops, from where withdraw police forces and so on. In other words, we cannot understand when such instructions from outside on what to do are given. Of course, this is an absolutely inconceivable story. And of course, we cannot approve this and more likely this situation evokes our indignation.”