MOSCOW, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - Western politicians are using the situation in Ukraine to put pressure on Russia instead of working toward a resolution of the conflict, Sergei Naryshkin, speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, told reporters Monday.
“Instead of working toward a de-escalation of the conflict, some Western politicians prefer to use it as a pretext to pressure Russia. Undoubtedly, sooner or later, necessary measures will be taken, but the important thing is the price Europe will have to pay for this crisis,” he said, stressing that this issue concerns Europe as a whole.
According to Naryshkin, the foreign ideologists behind the current policy of opposing Ukrainians and Russians are unaware of the possible consequences of their actions. “These people are often citizens of other countries. They have been brought up in other traditions, with a different moral code,” he said.
Since April, Ukrainian Special Forces have been carrying out a military operation against independence supporters in the Donbas region. According to the UN, more than 2,000 civilians have lost their lives and some 5,000 have been injured since the beginning of the operation. Moscow has described the military action as punitive, urging Kiev to put an immediate end to the bloodshed.
