MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev’s claim that Russian special forces are involved in orchestrating protests in Ukraine “smells of paranoia,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday.
Shoigu’s comment followed a statement by Ukrainian security chief Valentin Nalivaichenko, who alleged Russian special forces are participating in ongoing pro-federalization protests in southeastern Ukraine.
“These statements smell of paranoia,” Shoigu said, adding that they also give the impression that the only effective agencies in Ukraine are press offices.
He urged Kiev to stop labeling the protesters “separatists” and “terrorists.”
The most reasonable move forward for the new Ukrainian authorities is to stop blaming Russia and instead begin a dialogue with the demonstrators, the defense minister said.
“It’s hard to look for a black cat in a dark room, especially if it’s not there,” he added.
Ukrainian authorities claim the Russian military is involved in anti-government protests in the southeastern parts of the country. Nalyvaichenko, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, claimed Wednesday that 23 officers of Russia's Main Intelligence Department had been detained in the region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier called on the US and its allies to stop laying the blame for the unrest in Ukraine on Russia, rebuking accusations coming from US Secretary of State John Kerry and elsewhere that pointed to Moscow allegedly having its hand in the ongoing pro-federalization rallies in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv.
Similar denials came from Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin and presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said Putin and Lavrov had repeatedly stressed that the fault for the protests lay with the Ukrainian regime, which has chosen to turn a blind eye to the interests of its own people.
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