Ukraine govt. does not respect Minsk agreement: Radio host

Press TV has conducted an interview with Dmitry Babich, radio host of Voice of Russia in Moscow, to discuss the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: We have usually the pattern where Poroshenko says Russia is amassing troops and then we get this sort of influx of violence, where at this point we have some that have been killed. How do you see this latest flare-up? 

Babich: It is tragedious all the confrontations in that area, but right now we just have the information from the Ukrainian authorities; they say eight of their soldiers have been killed, but if you ask the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, they will tell you that every day these big cities, Donetsk and Lugansk, have been bombarded or shelled by the Ukrainian forces and there are dozens of civilians dead every day.

So the problem is that the Minsk agreements, which were supposed [to bring] a ceasefire on both sides, it was not really adhered to primarily by the Ukrainian side. Just let me tell you this fact that the rebels control only three percent of the territory of Ukraine, and let me remind you that President Yanukovych, who was himself from the Donetsk region, was toppled by the new regime in Ukraine and he had the support of more than fifty percent of Ukrainian vote. So fifty percent of the Ukrainian vote or more have been basically [squeezed] into three percent of the Ukrainian territory. And there are other complications, because for example the Ukrainian parliament has just passed a bill which stops elections in all of the Donetsk and Lugansk areas, not just the areas controlled by the rebels, but also in all of these regions, and let me remind you that these regions are seen as pro-Russian and they have traditionally supported Yanukovych and other anti-nationalists in Ukraine.

Press TV: Another piece of news that came and that was the nuclear test that happened in Nevada by the US, which the Russians said that this is indeed a real provocation and along with that they talked about how the US is providing the countries, even non-NATO members, with these nuclear warheads which at the same time is breaking the rules of the NPT. This is seen as a provocation by Russia. Do you agree with that?

Babich: Yes and the Russian Foreign Ministry explained its position. The United States made no secret out of the fact that this is a tactical nuclear weapon, which they planned to use in case of a possible conflict with Russia in Eastern Europe. So it becomes more and more dangerous because the United States is viewing a nuclear war in Europe as a possibility. They are in fact imitating a possible nuclear strike. I think this is dangerous not only for Russia but also for Iran. Let me remind you that Iran has signed the NPT treaty but despite this fact it was treated by the Western powers as a sort of a nuclear threat. So it is really strange when you have Western powers pressuring Iran and at the same time doing exercises under a scenario of some kind of a limited nuclear war.

Press TV: And finally, the Iran nuclear conclusion was obviously signed yesterday. Moscow came out rather quickly and said this missile defense shield should be out of the question now, because Iran was part of the so-called and alleged threat and at this point since Iran is not there then forget about it. Why is there even going to be this missile defense shield?

Babich: Yes you are right, and what is especially interesting is the fact that the United States quickly responded saying that the anti-missile shield will be constructed and developed despite this new agreement with Iran.

I think it just shows you one more time that the United States built its anti-missile defenses not so much against Iran but rather against Russia or any other state that would be able to challenge the unlimited American supremacy in nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles. So I think that it just shows you how duplicitous, how hypocritical the American policy towards Russia and Iran is. They have been lying all this time when they said thousands of times that this new shield is not against Russia but against Iran. Okay, there is no more Iranian nuclear threat but the anti-ballistic shield is still being constructed and billions of dollars have been spent on it.

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