MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that the US seeks not to ensure the Ukrainian security but to hamper Russia’s growth.
"It seems to me that the US is not so much concerned about the Ukrainian security, although maybe it thinks about this, but its main task is to hamper Russia’s development. That is the point," the head of state said at a press conference following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
According to the Russian leader, "Ukraine just serves as a mean to achieve this goal." "This can be done in different ways: by drawing us into some kind of armed conflict and forcing, in particular our European allies, to impose tough sanctions against us, which the US is discussing now," Putin noted. The president also described another scenario, according to which, the US can "make Ukraine join NATO, set up strike weapon systems there and encourage some Banderites to resolve the Donbass conflict and the Crimea issue by force, drawing us into armed clashes."
Speaking about the Minsk accords, Putin commented on some statements relating to this issue. "On the one hand, we hear some claims that Ukraine wants to comply with the [Minsk agreements], and we are constantly blamed for not fulfilling [them]. At the same time, according to some public statements, if [Kiev] implements these Minsk agreements, it will collapse," the president pointed out. "And no one has thought that if [Ukraine] poses such threats to Russia, it creates similar threats for itself," the head of state mentioned.
The Russian president stated that "all these issues required very careful consideration and addressing each other’s interests." "As we are told, each side has the right to choose its own security system. And we agree with it," Putin emphasized.