BEIJING, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China have witnessed a consistent Western policy to weed out authorities they find disagreeable applied in Ukraine, Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev claims.
"We appreciate the well thought-out, balanced position of our Chinese friends concerning the Ukrainian crisis. It is important that we have a clear understanding of the fact that Ukraine is a vivid example of the continuation of the Western policy to remove the authorities that they find disagreeable," Patrushev said Friday.
Ukraine underwent a Western-backed regime change resembling a military coup in February. The country's parliament ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych, changed the constitution and scheduled an early presidential election for May 25, won by Ukrainian tycoon Petro Poroshenko.
The southeast of the country generally refused to support the interim government, instead choosing to hold referendums on independence. Kiev's new authorities then launched a military operation in mid-April to suppress independence supporters, but have so far failed to achieve any tangible results.
The military operation was heavily encouraged by the West, which also supported Euromaidan activists before the coup. The EU and the US imposed targeted sanctions against a number of Russian officials, banning them from receiving visas and freezing their assets.
Moscow has repeatedly said that the language of unilateral sanctions is counterproductive, but the West continued to blame Russia for escalating the situation in Ukraine, despite numerous attempts by the Russian authorities to stop the violence in the regions, urging the authorities in Kiev to begin a national dialogue.
