RIA Novosti: Top Russian security official comments on Ukraine, Russia-West relations

(RIA Novosti – July 2, 2014) Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Yevgeniy Lukyanov has commented on the Ukrainian conflict, sanctions imposed against Russia after it was joined by Crimea and the Russia-West relations in an interview with Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, published on the agency’s website on 2 July. [1]

Ukraine

Commenting on the recent developments in Ukraine, Lukyanov said: “We would like the ceasefire to be observed and not have any timeframe. We rely on the responsibilities of parties sides [to the conflict] to observe these fragile arrangements, which have been agreed on recently,” Lukyanov said, adding that now everything hinges on Kiev, which should first hear conditions of separatists’ representatives and find mutually acceptable solutions.

“Russia, for its part, has given a clear signal to the current Ukrainian leadership about the importance of continuing this work and inadmissibility of continuing genocide against their own people,” he added.

“We do not want further military escalation in Ukraine, Russia, Europe and the world as a whole. All attempts to provoke us into performing inadequate actions have so far fallen flat and it will be very hard to do it in the future,” he said.

Lukyanov also drew attention to biased reports about the situation in Ukraine’s southeast, saying that all actions of Ukrainian law enforcers, namely “sabotage operations, terror, killing of dissenters, destruction of infrastructure facilities in the southeast”, are attributed to the militia “in the worst traditions of information and psychological warfare”.

In his interview with RIA Novosti he also said that one of the aims of Ukraine’s Euromaydan was further NATO’s eastward expansion, adding that the West is constantly criticizing Russia for its military exercises held near the border with Ukraine.

“But why should we not hold manoeuvres and check combat readiness of our forces when the events in Ukraine should lead to NATO’s advance to the east under the plan which, probably, exists in certain headquarters in the West?” Lukyanov said. He also stressed that despite all promises not to extend NATO to the east, the Baltic states, situated just 150 km from Russia’s second largest city St Petersburg, are now members of the alliance.

Meanwhile, he noted that Ukraine will reportedly not join NATO in the very near future due to complexity of organizational arrangements required for it, but Lukyanov does not rule out that NATO forces may be deployed there under some pretexts.

“It is possible to get off easy – to deploy NATO forces under a pretext of ensuring security of strategic facilities, for instance, nuclear power plants. And then what is the difference for Russia regarding how it will be called – a NATO member or the territory where NATO troops are deployed? This scenario is also possible,” he added.

Advisors from the USA are elaborating the central Ukrainian authorities’ strategy, Lukyanov went on saying, when asked to comment on the presence of employees of Greystone, a US-based private military company, on Ukrainian territory. “One can say with all certainty, that it is not a question of American mercenaries, but of vigorous activity of the so-called advisors from Washington on Ukrainian territory. I mean specialists of the US intelligence community and law-enforcement agencies,” he said.

These people, “obviously, do not limit themselves to giving advice, but elaborate the strategic line, in strict conformity to which the leadership of the country make their decisions”, he added.

Lukyanov also called the idea that the USA wants to achieve anything in Ukraine with the help of mercenaries “an illusion”.

“It is not an African state, where it is possible to detain the president with the help of 20 to 30 people and to put your own henchman instead. If these methods are transferred to Ukraine as a template, it at least raises doubts, if not irony. The mischief of it is that along with [Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy] Yatsenyuk and other politicians some people, who in civilized society cannot be called anything else but people living on the fringes of society, rush into power” Lukyanov added.

Lukyanov also drew attention to the role which Poland played in the events in Ukraine.

“Poland’s role in the Ukrainian events is significant. Militant training camps have been operating on the territory of that country for many years. And possibly, they exist there now. But since the mid-2000s these preparations have certainly been held,” he went on saying.

Crimea

Lukyanov replied in the affirmative to the question on whether the Western leaders are not fully aware of possible consequences from sanctions imposed against Russia for their countries.

“Judge by yourself. The USA spent 5bn dollars on preparations for Maydan. It is interesting whether Obama’s advisors reported to him that as a result of all these actions Crimea will return back to Russia. Or that Putin’s rating will exceed 80 per cent afterwards. And they should have reported about it to make him think whether it is worth spending this sum. It turns out to be that Obama’s advisors are our main aides. And 23 years of Kiev’s policy towards Crimea also played its role,” he said.

“And they wanted to take revenge upon us for the Syrian chemical weapons, the Iranian nuclear programme, for Mr Snowden, and, maybe, for something else, in brief, they wanted to ‘play a dirty trick on us’. They have played it, but hurt themselves. Their only success is a temporary fright of the European Union, which may be used for consolidation of NATO structures,” Lyukyanov added.

He also said that the sanctions imposed against Russia after it was joined by Crimea will hit back at companies in the countries which introduced them.

“Export restrictions on supplies of certain goods to us [Russia] will lead to the loss of market for their producers, which will affect financial balances of separate corporations. The similar effect will have a ban on exports of Russian goods abroad,” he noted.

Russia-West relations

Later on, Lukyanov said that he is certain that the project of missile defence system in Europe has not implied Russia’s participation in it on equal terms.

“No-one in the USA has implied two processing centres or systems to exchange information in real-time mode,” he added.

Lukyanov also criticized several European countries, namely Poland, Turkey and Romania, for deploying missile defence system facilities on their territory.

“Of course, this decision of these countries does not please us. The most important thing is that people in these countries will realize that they are hostages of loose-fitting American practice. They receive only crumbs from the table in return, they are called equal partners, whom in reality they undoubtedly do not appear to be in the view of Washington,” he added.

“The hegemony of the USA on the international arena has come to an end, with which Washington cannot agree” and now it is time to sit down at the negotiating table, he said, adding that it should be a global congress, which will draw together all key players. Otherwise, there are “no rules of game, no agreements. And they will be violated especially when there are no clear commitments”.

“And than the whole world will become less and less manageable and more chaotic,” he said.

Lukyanov also praised the emergence of the new centres of power, including BRICS countries. “And Russia itself managed to get on to feet,” he added.

He went on saying that Russia “is a participant in the global process, we want to have our say, we have our own national interests, which we are ready to defend. It has caused an inadequate reaction in the West, similar to hysterics. But it is impossible not to keep in mind the factor of Russia in the world,” he added.