If Kiev started using army, it's serious crime against its people - Putin
If Kiev has actually started using its army in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, then that is a serious crime against its own people, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, Voice of Russia correspondent Svetlana Kalmykova reports. "If today's regime in Kiev has actually begun using its army against civilians within the country, then that, without a doubt, is a serious crime against its people," Putin said during a MediaForum in St. Petersburg. The Ukrainian authorities should start dialogue within the country and not legalizing radical organizations to settle the conflict in the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. "We participated in the meeting in Geneva and signed definite agreements which include that both sides need to disarm their people, vacate administrative buildings, and so on. What's happening: no 'Right Sector,' or any other radical groups have been disarmed, no one in Kiev has vacated anything. It's just the opposite, these groups are beginning to be legalized. And who's doing the legalization? You shouldn't go on this path, you need to take the path of dialogue among all of the country's residents wherever they are living," Putin said during a MediaForum in St. Petersburg.
Stephen Lendman: Kiev Declares War ■ In mid-April, CIA director John Brennan went to Kiev. He did so quietly. He held secret talks. He met with Obama's new friends. He came to plot war strategy. He wants Eastern Ukrainian freedom fighters eliminated. He wants them slaughtered in cold blood. He wants challengers to Washington's imperium crushed. After his visit, coup-appointed president Okeksandr Turchynov announced a northern Donetsk region "anti-terrorist operation." To "protect the citizens of Ukraine," he claimed. To be conducted "stage-by-stage," he added. So-called "terrorists" are committe freedom fighters. They're Ukraine's best and bravest. They're putting their bodies on the line courageously. They're doing it for fundamental rights everyone deserves.