© Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters
Anti-government protesters aim their weapons during clashes with riot police at Independence Square in Kiev February 18, 2014.
The US used Russia to prevent Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich from using his military against rioters in Kiev, and then 'cheated' Moscow by supporting an armed coup, President Vladimir Putin said.
The accusation refers to events that happened in February 2014, when Ukraine was gripped by violent anti-government protests. Yanukovich and three leaders of the opposition forces signed a power-sharing deal, which effectively amounted to a capitulation of the president.
The deal was enforced by three European nations: Germany, France and Poland. The accord lasted only a few days, however, as protestors - led by far-right nationalists - violated its terms and advanced unopposed by demoralized security forces. This forced Yanukovich to flee for his life.
"Here is something not publicly known," Putin revealed in an interview. "At this very moment,
our American partners called us and asked to do everything - and that's almost a quote - to ensure that Yanukovich didn't use the army, so that the opposition could clear the squares and governmental buildings on its own terms and go on towards the implementation of the agreement."
The Russian president said
Moscow agreed to this request, only to see the situation escalate the next day into a full-fledged armed coup. "They could have at least called us, do something, say a word! They could have said, 'It was a case of agents stepping out of line, but we will fix it and turn everything into the bounds of the law,'"he said.
"Not a word! On the contrary,
there was full support of those who committed this coup," Putin recalled. "
This is what they did with their own hands. How can they not support the current leadership now? They put themselves into a corner."
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