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Europe's been taking a one-sided view of the turmoil plaguing the Ukraine.
That's the point the Russian Foriegn Minister's been hammering home as he addressed a global
security forum in Munich.
RT's Egor Piskunov was there and he listened in.
Ukraine and the situation there is definitely one of the key issues on the table here in
Munich,
and one of the first things that Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov talked about was the
situation there.
And, in fact, he criticized the way the European Union and the US has so far been dealing with
the situation there and their approach.
(Russian FM Lavrov) What does incitement of increasingly violent street protests have
to do with promoting democracy?
Why do we not hear condemnation of those who seize government buildings and attack police
and use racist, anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans?"
Why are many prominent European politicians actually encouraging such actions although
back home they are quick to severely punish any violations of the law?
(Egor Piskunov) Now, one of the first meetings that took place, here in Munich, last night
was the one between one of the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition, Arseniy Yatsenyuk
and the German President.
And even though the President's post here in Germany is a somewhat of a formal position,
many still saw it as a hint that the Ukraine would take-up much of the talks here.
And we know that Mr Yatsenyuk is also scheduled to meet separately with US Secretary of State,
John Kerry
while Ukrainian officials who are also taking part in the conference are not scheduled to
meet with any of these people individually
and many are criticizing these countries for, perhaps, conducting this one-sided approach
to the situation.
Clearly Syria is one of the most important issues talked about right now while the first
attempt to get both sides of the conflict
to sit down and negotiate peacefully has just happened in Geneva.
Mr Lavrov commented on the latest statements coming out of Washington that Syrian authorities
are, so far, failing with their agreements on the chemical arms deal.
He said that this is really, right now, no time for any ultimatums.
Also the Foreign Minister reminded that this year the world is going to mark 100 years
since the start of the first world war
and said that everyone has to remember what policies of national exceptionalism could
lead to
and called on Europe and the United States to return to the policy of building one joint
world - in Peace and Collaboration.
Once again saying that until Russia receives guarantees from the US
it's still going to see it's plans for the anti-missile defense system in Europe as a
potential threat to it's national security.
And, as panel discussions continue in Munich we will be bringing the very latest updates
on air and online, of course, at rt.com.