Politics

US ‘involved in criminal activities’ in Ukraine

From PressTV

The Obama administration is “involved in criminal activities” in Ukraine and facilitated last year’s “coup d’état” in Kiev, a former US Senate candidate says.

“They did so in conjunction with neo-Nazi elements in Kiev, they did so at the behest of Israel and the European central banks and the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” said Mark Dankof, who is also a broadcaster and pastor in San Antonio, Texas.

“And of course this whole situation in Ukraine permitted the United States to continue the encirclement policy of Russia that has been going on since the end of the Cold War ,” he told Press TV on Monday.

PressTVDankof

In an interview with CNN on Sunday, US President Barack Obama admitted that, “We had brokered a deal to transition power in Ukraine” since Russian President Vladimir Putin “made this decision around Crimea and Ukraine.”

Dankof cited Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland who revealed last year that Washington had invested about $5 billion to promote “democracy” in Ukraine.

“The worst aspect of this whole situation is that this [US] government continues to be involved in criminal activities in the eastern part of Ukraine, specifically targeting ethnically Russian people in the major urban areas of the eastern part of that country for genocidal activity,” he said.

Ties between Washington and Moscow deteriorated last year after pro-Western forces ousted Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

The US and its allies accuse Moscow of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of the pro-Russian forces. Moscow, however, denies any involvement.

The United States and the European Union have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, including visa bans and asset freezes.

According to US officials, Washington is considering providing Ukrainian forces with lethal weapons.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey were open to discuss sending weapons to Ukraine.