MOSCOW, April 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The United States can’t admit that it is unable to manage processes around the world from Washington single-handedly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with RT television channel.

“As I said, the point is not Ukraine. Ukraine is only one case that shows the United States’ unwillingness to make concessions in the geopolitical struggle,” Lavrov said.

“The Americans are not ready to admit that they can’t single-handedly run the show in all corners of the planet from Washington, that they can’t impose their ready decisions on everyone,” he said.

“And they can’t realize — that is, I think they are already beginning to realize but still keep instinctively adhering to the position that they don’t need to take into account the opinions and interests of others,” the Russian foreign minister said.

“You know that in response to a demand to vacate the illegally occupied buildings in Kiev, [US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs] Victoria Nuland said that ‘everything that is still being held by protesters is being held with licenses and with the agreement of the government of Ukraine… or with regular leases from the owners of the building’,” he said.

“It’s just incredible! It’s hard to believe that they may use such arguments seriously,” Lavrov said.

Sergei Lavrov called on the United States on Wednesday to stop thinking exclusively of geopolitical interests when dealing with the Ukraine crisis.

In an interview with RT, Lavrov said Ukraine was only a manifestation of the US unwillingness to make concessions in its geopolitical struggle.

“As I said, the point is not Ukraine. Ukraine is only a manifestation of US unwillingness to retreat in geopolitical struggle,” the Russian foreign minister went on to say.

 

Coup in Ukraine

The situation in Ukraine is far from stable after a coup occurred in the country in February following months of anti-government protests, often violent, triggered by President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to suspend the signing of an association agreement with the European Union in November 2013 in order to study the deal more thoroughly.

Amid riots, during which radicals seized some government buildings in Kiev, new people were brought to power, whom Russia does not recognize as Ukraine's legitimate leaders. The self-proclaimed Ukrainian authorities appear unable to restrict radicals and ultranationalists.

The crisis deepened when Crimea, where most residents are Russians, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the de facto Ukrainian leadership. Crimea reunified with Russia on March 18 after a referendum two days earlier in which it overwhelmingly voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

After the reunification, which Kiev and Western countries do not accept despite Russia’s repeated statements that the Crimean plebiscite was in line with the international law, protests against the new Ukrainian authorities erupted in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeastern territories, with demonstrators taking control of some government buildings and demanding referendums on the country’s federalization.

Ukrainian parliament-appointed interim president Oleksandr Turchynov on April 15 announced the start of an antiterrorism operation in the Donetsk Region, apparently aimed to crack down on pro-federalization protesters.