MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. The West’s attempts to shuffle off the responsibility on Russia for the events in Ukraine, the unilateral sanctions and the open information war are unable to facilitate the settlement of the situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday by summing up the year’s results.
The Ukrainian crisis “revealed the serious systematic problems in the Euro-Atlantic region due to the Western countries’ policy towards strengthening their own security without taking into account Russia’s interests and expanding the geopolitical space controlled by them to the East. NATO’s consistent enlargement waves proved this despite the assurances at the highest level,” the ministry said.
“The chance was lost to form an equal and indivisible security system in the Euro-Atlantic region,” it said.
“The USA and the EU openly supported the anti-constitutional seizure of power in Kiev and actions by nationalist forces, which came into power, for armed suppression and the economic and social ‘strangulation’ of the country's southeast,” the ministry said.
“Thousands of killed and injured people, hundreds of refugees and displaced persons, the destruction of the social and economic infrastructure are the costs,” it said.
Under these circumstances, Russia “exerted energetic effort to contribute to the soonest ceasefire, the long-term truce and political measures to settle the protracted Ukrainian crisis. The Minsk agreements, which determined the first steps towards de-escalation, was the outcome”, the ministry said.
“In order to overcome the deadlock all parties concerned should help Ukraine ride out the difficult period in its history, ensure lasting peace and national accord, and create such political system to make all Ukrainians to feel comfortable, safe and decent,” the ministry said.