Ukraine
Saturday 23 September 2017
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Aleksey Pushkov
Chairman of the Commission on Information Policy in Russia’s Federation Council
“There is no basis for the deployment of peacekeepers on the border between the DNR/LNR and Russia. It is a zone of peace and tranquility. So let them deal with the zone of tension.”
Read more...The Russian authorities’ insistence that the mandate of UN peacekeepers in Ukraine should be limited to the area along the “borders” between Ukraine and the conflict zone in the eastern part of the country is based on their claim that the region is a “zone of peace and tranquility.” That claim is neither true nor logical. Eastern Ukraine remains a war zone and the only internationally recognized borders are those between Ukraine and Russia. -
Sergey Kislyak
Former Russian Ambassador to the U.S.
“I have worked for years in the American (relations) field, and I can responsibly say that we did everything, simply everything, to maintain normal cooperation.”
Read more...Russia’s own actions endangering global security caused the deterioration of relations with the United States as well as with other countries. The conditions for lifting sanctions and returning to “normal” cooperation have been clearly presented to Russia but Moscow ignores its obligation to help maintain global security. -
RT
Russian government-funded international broadcaster
“U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker stated that Russian authorities intend to ‘freeze’ the situation in Donbass.”
Read more...In fact, Volker said that Russia appears ready to “live with” the status quo in the region and that there are political and economic costs for its actions in Ukraine. -
Andrey Klimov
Deputy Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee, Federation Council
“These sanctions are illegal in themselves, because the only thing recognized by international law is the sanctions of the UN Security Council.”
Read more...Despite Russia’s claims that U.S.-imposed sanctions are illegal under international law, the U.S. strictly follows its own legal procedures and international regulations under the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) -
Oleksandr Turchynov
secretary of Ukraine's Security and Defense Council (NSDC)
"Ukraine has never supplied rocket engines or any kind of missile technology to North Korea.”
Read more...Aside from Ukrainian denials, even Michael Elleman, the missile expert cited by the New York Times, conceded that the engines could have come from a Russian factory. -
Aleksandr Zakharchenko
leader of Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region
“Our desire is to create favorable conditions for the work of the OSCE mission, full cooperation. I would like the whole world to know what is happening in the DPR.”
Read more...In fact, obstruction of OSCE monitors and armed attacks on their patrols have mounted in recent weeks with clear indication of separatist responsibility. -
Denis Pushilin
leader of the Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk region
"These outrageous facts of the violations of the Minsk agreements by Ukrainian forces has not elicited a reaction on the part of the leadership of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission."
Read more...The charge by the separatist leader came after reports by the OSCE monitors noting the movement of military vehicles between Russia and separatist-controlled areas of southeastern Ukraine as well as the refusal by the separatists allowing monitors access to a separatist-controlled area. As for the monitors' reports, regularly site violations by both sides, however most are committed by the separatists. -
RT
Russian government-funded international broadcaster
“In an effort to compete with more technologically advanced forces, the U.S. Army is investing in new programs to develop autonomous drones and create a network of battlefield devices that communicate with each other… The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a report that found the US Army has fallen behind other technologically advanced states after spending nearly two decades fighting technologically inferior adversaries in the Middle East.”
Read more...The U.S. Army actually enjoys “an overall qualitative advantage” over all of its counterparts, including Russia, despite a narrowing gap in capabilities -
Ramzan Kadyrov
Head of Chechnya
“America is carrying out policies against Russia, against the nation’s leadership. They know I am one of those ready to give my life for Russia, and that I have a good army capable of attacking and defending. We will see who comes out on top.”
Read more...Chechnya’s Kremlin-appointed head threatened the U.S. with his “army.” His claims are baseless: by military standards, Chechnya has no army. -
Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov
former Russian FSB officer and 'defense minister' of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic
“The militia did not shoot down the Boeing [MH17]. I only had Igla and Strela anti-aircraft missiles.”
Read more...Three years after 298 people lost their lives, Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, still tells the lie that Russia-backed fighters in eastern Ukraine could not have shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. -
Leonid Kalashnikov
State Duma member and chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs
“The creation of such a state [‘Malorossiya’] is possible and likely inevitable, judging by what is happening in Ukraine.”
Read more...Leonid Kalashnikov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, claims that it may be “inevitable” that Ukrainian regions fall into a new entity proposed by Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko as ‘Malorossiya’ (little Russia). But neither Moscow nor Zakharchenko’s fellow separatists seem very keen, to say nothing of other Ukrainians. -
Press Service of the Russian Southern Military District
"[N]o one from the command ever met with [Viktor] Ageyev and couldn't have signed a contract with him...he signed the so-called contract...in Luhansk, where there have not been and are no active Russian servicemen."
Read more...While the Russian military denies it has troops in Ukraine and that Ageyev was on active duty, he testified that he was, as did his mother, friends and a fellow serviceman, and his ID does not show a discharge.