DUSHANBE, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the West uses the crisis in Ukraine to destabilize the international situation, while the country itself is of no interest to anyone.
"I have a conspiracy theory that Ukraine itself is of no interest to anyone, but simply being used as a tool to destabilize international relations," Putin said after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
"Ukraine is used as a tool, as a hostage to the desire of some participants in the international dialogue, to, say revive NATO. And not only as a military organization, but also as one of the key instruments of US foreign policy," the Russian leader said.
Ukraine has been engulfed in violent internal conflict since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country. According to the United Nations’ estimates, some 3,000 people have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded since the start of the offensive.
Representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed to a ceasefire between Kiev and Ukrainian independence supporters during the September 5 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk.
The ceasefire came into force at 15:00 GMT the same day, although both the Ukrainian military and independence supporters accused each other of violating the agreement in the immediate aftermath, the ceasefire is now recognized to be "largely holding".
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