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Ex-president says seizure of power in Ukraine was planned

Viktor Yanukovych believes US representatives were actively involved in planning and orchestrating the protests in Ukraine

Clashes in Kiev's Independence Square, 2014 TASS

Clashes in Kiev's Independence Square, 2014

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MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, believes that the developments on Kiev's Independence Square (Maidan) in 2014 were planned in advance, while their results did not depend on government decisions.

"I signed the protocol (an Agreement on the Settlement of Political Crisis in Ukraine - TASS). However, sometime later I realized that no matter what protocol we signed, the scenario to seize the power and stage a coup was planned and imminent. That is, it actually did not depend on our actions," the former president said in an interview with the US film director Oliver Stone for his documentary entitled Ukraine on Fire aired by the REN TV channel.

Yanukovych accused the US establishment, in particular, Vice-President Joe Biden, of disparity between words and actions during the "Maidan" events. According to Yanukovych, US representatives were actively involved in planning and orchestrating the protests in Ukraine.

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"We were constantly in touch with Biden, I had frequent telephone conversations with him. However, the fact is that Mr. Biden said one thing, while something entirely different was done in Ukraine," he said. "The US Ambassador to Ukraine constantly received representatives of the 'Maidan' at the embassy. We knew that very well, we kept a close watch on this. One got the impression that the whole process was orchestrated by the headquarters in the US Embassy."

According to Yanukovych, US representatives’ actions in Ukraine during the "Maidan" developments were inadmissible. "Tell me, will it be acceptable in any other country, if Ukraine’s ambassador comes to the protesters in Ferguson, distributes cakes there and accuses the US police. I believe this is inadmissible in any country. Why then was there such an attitude towards Ukraine?"

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