Moscow urges crackdown in Ukraine on “extremists” in government

MOSCOW. Feb 24 (Interfax) – Moscow on Monday urged the Ukrainians to bring back the situation in their country into “the legal framework” and “crack down on the extremists who are trying to get established in power.”

“We earnestly call upon all those who are involved in the crisis in Ukraine to show the maximum sense of responsibility, to take action to prevent the further degradation of the situation, to bring it back into the legal framework, and to crack down on the extremists who are trying to get established in power,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website, www.mid.ru.

The ministry expressed “extreme anxiety” over current developments in Ukraine.

“In the last few days, the capital and some other cities in the country have been sites of armed clashes between young rioters and militants from ultra-right nationalist organizations and law enforcement units that were defending the security of civilians and national interests,” it said.

“The militants have not been disarmed, refuse to leave the streets of the cities that they de facto control and to vacate administrative buildings, and continue acts of violence,” the ministry said.

“The agreement of February 21 on the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine is not being complied with, though its signature was authenticated by the ministers of foreign affairs of Germany, Poland and France whereas the United States and the European Union, and other international structures have welcomed this document,” the statement said.