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Russia urges Paris to prevent authorities in Kiev from using force against protesters

“The Russian side emphasized the necessity to promptly put an end to the Kiev-pursued policy of provocation aggravation,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says

Ukrainian soldiers with military vehicle patrol a road between Luhansk and Slavyansk EPA/ANASTASIA VLASOVA

Ukrainian soldiers with military vehicle patrol a road between Luhansk and Slavyansk

© EPA/ANASTASIA VLASOVA

Moscow, April 14./ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday called on Paris to prevent Kiev authorities from using law enforcement officers or the armed forces against protesters in Ukrainian cities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said after a phone conversation between the Russian and French foreign ministers.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday called on Paris to prevent Kiev authorities from using law enforcement officers or the armed forces against protesters in Ukrainian cities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

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“The Russian side emphasized the necessity to promptly put an end to the Kiev-pursued policy of provocation aggravation of the already critically tense situation in Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions,” the ministry said after a phone conversation between Lavrov and his French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

Lavrov dismissed “well-known attempts by the United States and a number of European countries to lay the blame for events taking place there on Russia and called on Paris as one of the guarantors of the February 21 agreement (between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition) to hold the Kiev authorities back from using force and the army against protesters in Sloviansk and other Ukrainian cities.”

“Russia is ready for international cooperation on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, including in the framework of a possible four-party meeting in Geneva, but its holding directly depends on decisions currently being made by Kiev under the patronage of, first of all, Washington,” the top Russian diplomat said.

The political and economic situation in Ukraine is deplorable after a coup that occurred in the country in February. Legitimate President Yanukovych had to leave Ukraine citing security concerns. Amid riots that involved radicals, new people were brought to power in Kiev. Moscow does not recognize the new Ukrainian authorities.

The crisis deepened when the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a special status on the Crimean Peninsula, where most residents are Russians, signed reunification deals with Russia on March 18 after a referendum two days earlier in which an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

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