Duma blames Ukrainian opposition extremists, Western policymakers for political crisis in Ukraine
MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) - The State Duma has blamed some Western politicians as well as extremist forces in the Ukrainian opposition for the escalation of the political crisis in Ukraine.
"Apart from the members of the extremist part in the opposition, responsibility for the exacerbation of the situation in Ukraine rests also with Western policymakers grossly interfering in the sovereign Ukraine's internal affairs and speaking at rallies arranged by the opposition," the State Duma said in a draft statement dealing with the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine, which it plans to pass on Wednesday.
The text of the statement drafted by the Duma committee on the CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and links with fellow-countrymen was posted on the Duma database on Tuesday evening.
The Duma plans once again to warn against external pressure on Ukraine and the imposition of a geopolitical choice in favor of association with the European Union on it.
"Prospects for overcoming the financial-economic crisis, for the national economy's recovery and development, and for qualitative improvement of the Ukrainian people's lives are impossible amid growing confrontation," it says.
The Duma intends to call on foreign political circles "interfering in internal affairs of sovereign Ukraine in violation of international law to stop promoting the conflict's continued escalation," the draft statement says.
The Russian parliamentarians have also urged the opposition forces in Ukraine to renounce violence in any form, immediately stop forcible confrontation, start a constructive dialogue with the government, and resolve all problems facing Ukrainian society in strict compliance with the constitution and national law.
The draft statement says also that State Duma deputies are alarmed to see a wave of civil conflict engulf the brotherly Ukraine. "The protest movement's actions are assuming an increasingly widespread and aggressive nature. In fact, there have been attempts to overthrow the legitimate institutions of government through the use of force," the draft statement says.
They authors of the document regret that the confrontation has been provoked by members of the opposition "cynically calling themselves champions of democracy."