mick silver
4th March 2014, 09:57 AM
Putin: U.S. treats foreigners like lab ratsMarch 4, 2014, 9:50 AM
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The rat is out of the bag!
It’s fair to say the U.S. and Russia have had their, well, differences in view of what makes responsible foreign policy. And on Tuesday, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin revealed what he really thinks about how the U.S. deals with other nations. Frankly, he’s not impressed:
“They sit there across the Pond, and sometimes I think they feel like they’re in a lab and they’re running experiments on rats and not understanding the consequences of what they are doing,” the Russian president said at a press conference.
In his first detailed remarks about the tensions in Ukraine, Putin lashed out at Western powers, implying they had engineered the “unconstitutional” regime-change in the eastern European country. To him, ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych remains the legitimate leader of his country’s southwestern neighbor, and the “nationalists and radical extremists rampant” on the streets of Kiev are a “major concern”.
Putin’s intense and sometimes agitated comments stirred up the Twittersphere, with some people calling him “crazy” and questioning his honesty.
Putin also gave his reasons for believing Russia has the right to launch a military intervention in Ukraine (a humanitarian mission, of course), and used the opportunity to point out how the West often ignores United Nations guidelines. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, for example, Western powers acted without the approval from the UN, he said.
“Our partners, especially the U.S., they always make it clear what their geopolitical interests are and pursue them with much determination. And then they use this phrase, ‘whoever is not with us is against us’, and if some countries don’t comply, they attack them and eventually make those countries regret it,” Putin said.
In the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. isn’t alone pushing back against Russia. The Group of Seven has condemned Russia’s intrusion, calling the move a “clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” What’s more, the G7 cancelled preparations for the next G8 summit, which includes Russia and had been scheduled to take place in Sochi in June.
Plus, the European Union has called an extraordinary meeting for Thursday over the situation, while U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that Russia could face costly sanctions unless it withdraws its forces from Crimea.
Putin’s reaction? He basically brushed off the threats and advised the Western powers to “think about the consequences.”
“In this tightly connected world, we can of course harm each other, but it will be mutual harm, and they need to think about that,” he said.
SHARE:MORE (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/03/04/putin-u-s-treats-foreigners-like-lab-rats/#)
Email (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/emailblogpost?djml=BL-MWTELLB-12756.djm)Print (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2014/03/04/putin-u-s-treats-foreigners-like-lab-rats/tab/print/)
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-BT664_Lab_ra_G_20140304091251.jpgShutterstock
The rat is out of the bag!
It’s fair to say the U.S. and Russia have had their, well, differences in view of what makes responsible foreign policy. And on Tuesday, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin revealed what he really thinks about how the U.S. deals with other nations. Frankly, he’s not impressed:
“They sit there across the Pond, and sometimes I think they feel like they’re in a lab and they’re running experiments on rats and not understanding the consequences of what they are doing,” the Russian president said at a press conference.
In his first detailed remarks about the tensions in Ukraine, Putin lashed out at Western powers, implying they had engineered the “unconstitutional” regime-change in the eastern European country. To him, ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych remains the legitimate leader of his country’s southwestern neighbor, and the “nationalists and radical extremists rampant” on the streets of Kiev are a “major concern”.
Putin’s intense and sometimes agitated comments stirred up the Twittersphere, with some people calling him “crazy” and questioning his honesty.
Putin also gave his reasons for believing Russia has the right to launch a military intervention in Ukraine (a humanitarian mission, of course), and used the opportunity to point out how the West often ignores United Nations guidelines. In Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, for example, Western powers acted without the approval from the UN, he said.
“Our partners, especially the U.S., they always make it clear what their geopolitical interests are and pursue them with much determination. And then they use this phrase, ‘whoever is not with us is against us’, and if some countries don’t comply, they attack them and eventually make those countries regret it,” Putin said.
In the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. isn’t alone pushing back against Russia. The Group of Seven has condemned Russia’s intrusion, calling the move a “clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” What’s more, the G7 cancelled preparations for the next G8 summit, which includes Russia and had been scheduled to take place in Sochi in June.
Plus, the European Union has called an extraordinary meeting for Thursday over the situation, while U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that Russia could face costly sanctions unless it withdraws its forces from Crimea.
Putin’s reaction? He basically brushed off the threats and advised the Western powers to “think about the consequences.”
“In this tightly connected world, we can of course harm each other, but it will be mutual harm, and they need to think about that,” he said.