Lavrov Says Anti-Russia Sentiment Threatens Europe Stability, 'No Troops or Spies' in E. Ukraine
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday denied that Moscow had sent any soldiers or security agents to Ukraine's eastern regions where a separatist movement has demanded independence from Kiev, warning that European stability was being threatened by rising anti-Russian sentiment over Ukraine.
"We are accused of having security agents there. They are not there," Lavrov was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying on state television.
"We have no troops there by definition," he added. "We don't have our soldiers there, and we don't have our agents there."
"There are Russian citizens there. But that is not surprising, since on the Maidan there were all kinds of people," he said, referring to the Independence Square that was the locus of mass protests that brought down the pro-Russian government in Kiev earlier this year.
The new government in Kiev has accused Moscow of stirring unrest in its predominantly Russian-speaking regions to the east, including the towns of Donetsk and Lugansk where pro-Russian protesters have occupied government buildings and are demanding independence.
Ukraine's security service (SBU) said on Wednesday it had detained a 22-year-old Russian female spy carrying a weapon who was suspected of carrying out sabotage on the orders of the Russian security service in the southern city of Mykolayiv.
Lavrov also warned that European stability was being threatened by rising anti-Russian sentiment over the Ukraine crisis.
"The current inflaming of anti-Russian sentiments takes place against the background of a spike of racism and xenophobia in many European countries, an increase in the number of ultra-radical groups and turning a blind eye to neo-Nazi phenomena, whether in Ukraine or elsewhere," he said.
Russia's top diplomat added that this "carries an obvious threat to European stability."
Speaking on a TV show Friday evening, Lavrov said that Moscow does not want to invade eastern and southern Ukraine.
He said sending troops to eastern Ukraine, where a separatist movement is demanding independence, would not be in Russia's interests.
"We cannot have such desires," the minister said on the state-run Rossiya channel when asked if Russia wants to take over south and east Ukraine. "That goes against Russia's fundamental interests."
Lavrov spoke after U.S. President Barack Obama threatened a third round of sanctions against Moscow if it escalates tensions over Ukraine, whose government it does not recognize.
Washington has already imposed targeted sanctions on some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies over Moscow's takeover of Ukraine's Russian-speaking peninsula of Crimea last month.
Speaking at a meeting with Russian non-governmental organizations, Lavrov said attempts to "legitimize the Maidan government at any cost" should be stopped in order to deescalate the crisis in Ukraine.
A pro-Western popular uprising often called the Maidan after the name of Kiev's central square in February ousted Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych, who has since taken refuge in Russia.
Moscow does not recognize the new authorities in Kiev, accusing them of supporting neo-Nazis and pursuing anti-Russian policies.
Late Thursday, the Russian foreign ministry formally warned Russians against traveling to countries which have an extradition treaty with the United States.
The ministry said that the introduction of U.S. sanctions meant that there was now a higher risk that Russians who face legal claims in the United States could be detained or arrested in other foreign countries.
Source: Agence France Presse
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