Putin: US Organized State Coup in Ukraine in 2014 - FARS

(FNA)- The state coup in Ukraine in 2014 that split the country and prompted Crimea’s withdrawal was organized by the United States and only tentatively supported by European states, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in an article, Being Open, Despite the Past, published on the Kremlin’s website and in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit on Tuesday.

The article is timed to mark the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Soviet Union’s 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany.

"Why did the USA organize the coup, and the European countries weak-heartedly support it, provoking a split within Ukraine and the withdrawal of Crimea?" Putin remarked, speaking about the 2014 events.

Speaking generally about the situation on the European continent after the end of the Cold War period and the NATO expansion, Putin pointed out that "many countries were put before the artificial choice of being either with the collective West or with Russia".

"In fact, it was an ultimatum," the Russian leader stressed.

As the Russian president noted, the Ukrainian tragedy of 2014 is an example of "the consequences that this aggressive policy has led to".

"Europe actively supported the unconstitutional armed coup in Ukraine. This was where it all started. Why was it necessary to do this? Then incumbent president [of Ukraine Viktor] Yanukovych had already accepted all the demands of the opposition," Putin continued.

The Russian leader said NATO expansion Eastwards and the former Soviet Union republics’ joining it dashed hopes for a continent without dividing lines.

"Since 1999, five more 'waves' of NATO expansion have followed. Fourteen new countries, including the former Soviet Union republics, joined the organization, effectively dashing hopes for a continent without dividing lines," Putin noted.

This was warned about in the mid-1980s by Egon Bahr, one of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) leaders, who proposed a radical restructuring of the entire European security system after German unification, involving both the USSR and the United States, the Russian president continued, adding, "But no one in the USSR, the USA or Europe was willing to listen to him at the time."

Putin stated that the risks of a new arms race are becoming real amid the degrading European security system.

"The whole system of European security has now degraded significantly. Tensions are rising and the risks of a new arms race are becoming real," the Russian leader stressed.

The sides are missing out on the tremendous opportunities that cooperation offers, Putin said, adding that "this is all the more important now that we are all facing common challenges, such as the pandemic and its dire social and economic consequences".