Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Western countries of using sanctions to try and bring about regime change in Russia.
Speaking at a meeting of the advisory Foreign and Defense Policy Council in Moscow, Lavrov said,
On Friday US Vice-President Joe Biden visited Kiev, marking the anniversary of the first protests that led to the ousting of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. During his visit he warned that Russia faces "rising costs and greater isolation" if a September peace deal was not respected.
Speaking at a meeting of the advisory Foreign and Defense Policy Council in Moscow, Lavrov said,
“The EU is our largest partner... Nobody is going to shoot himself in the foot and reject cooperation with Europe, but everyone understands that it won’t be business as usual anymore.
“But we don’t need the kind of business we had. [That] was like ‘Russia must do this and must do that,' and we want to cooperate as equals,” he added.The foreign minister went on to add,
"As for the concept behind to the use of coercive measures, the West is making clear it does not want to force Russia to change policy but wants to secure regime change."His comments come after Russia's President Vladmir Putin said on Thursday that Russia must guard against “colour revolutions”, that have occurred in other former Soviet countries. The world could see "what tragic consequences the wave of the so-called colour revolutions has led to," said Putin. "We have to do all that is needed to ensure that similar things never happen in Russia."
"Now public figures in Western countries say there is a need to impose sanctions that will destroy the economy and cause public protests."
On Friday US Vice-President Joe Biden visited Kiev, marking the anniversary of the first protests that led to the ousting of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. During his visit he warned that Russia faces "rising costs and greater isolation" if a September peace deal was not respected.