FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Putin Charges Poroshenko Created Crimea Provocation To Boost His Chances in March Ukraine Election
Nov. 28, 2018 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin charged that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko launched the Naval provocation in the Kerch Strait to boost his bid for reelection in March 2019, which is otherwise in trouble.
“As for the Black Sea incident, certainly, this is a provocation. The provocation carried out by the current authorities, and I think by the incumbent President ahead of the Presidential election in Ukraine in March next year. The incumbent President’s rating is somewhere at the fifth place, and he is running the risk of not making it into the second round, that’s why something needs to be done to exacerbate this situation and create invincible obstacles for his rivals, namely from the opposition,”
Putin said. The President was speaking today at the “Russia Calling! Investment Forum” hosted by VTB Capital, reported TASS.
On Nov. 26 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) urged Russia and Ukraine to refrain from “any further provocations” and engage in dialogue to reduce tensions after the Nov. 25 standoff near Crimea. OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger urged Moscow and Kiev “to exercise restraint, step back from any further provocations and immediately engage in dialogue to reduce the risk of further tensions in the region.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Berlin has “called on Russia and Ukraine to show the greatest possible restraint, and offered to work on a solution in the Normandy Format,” comprised of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Russia and Ukraine to resolve their dispute through dialogue, saying Turkey wants the Black Sea, which it also borders, to become a “sea of peace.”
Germany’s Die Welt daily reported that Germany and France do not consider it necessary to tighten EU sanctions against Russia over the incident.
