Ukraine PM accuses Russia of seeking WWIII
Iran Press TV
Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:51PM GMT
Acting Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused Russia of seeking to trigger a "Third World War."
In a televised cabinet meeting on Friday, Yatsenyuk accused Moscow of attempting to occupy Ukraine "militarily and politically," creating a conflict that would spread to the rest of Europe.
"The world hasn't forgotten the Second World War and Russia wants to start a Third World War," he added.
The Ukrainian official said Russia's support for anti-Kiev protesters constitutes an international crime, calling for international community to unite against Moscow.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Defense Minister Mykhailo Koval says Russian troops conducting military exercises close to the Ukrainian border, came within one kilometer of the border but did not cross it, adding that Ukraine's armed forces are ready to repel any aggression.
Interim authorities in Kiev said on Friday that army units have begun the second phase of an operation to drive out pro-Russia activists from the country's eastern cities.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced Kiev's operations in the eastern Ukraine as a "bloody crime," saying the Ukrainian government is waging a war on its own people.
He also accused the West of plotting to control Ukraine, saying, "The West wants — and this is how it all began — to seize control of Ukraine because of their own political ambitions, not in the interests of the Ukrainian people."
Tensions between Moscow and the West heightened after Crimea declared independence from Ukraine and became part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16.
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