Russia: Kerry’s threat futile, West sides with neo-Nazis

The Russian Foreign Ministry said “unacceptable threats” delivered by US Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the situation in Crimea has failed to take into account the violent power seizure in Kiev carried out by radicals.
In the statement released Monday, the ministry said Kerry’s “Cold War” rhetoric would do nothing to punish “radical extremists” who carried out the coup, but rather sought to put the focus on the Russian Federation. It was further critical of the G7’s decision to suspend preparations for the upcoming G8 Summit in Sochi, saying the move has no grounds.
The foreign ministry accused Washington and its allies of turning a blind eye to the excesses of what it called militant, Russophobic and anti-Semitic forces operating on Kiev’s central Independence Square which pushed for the ouster of Ukraine’s embattled President Viktor Yanukovych last month.
“Not bothering to make any effort to understand the complex processes occurring within Ukrainian society or make an objective assessment of the environment, which is furthering the degradation following the forceful seizure of power in Kiev by radical extremists, [Secretary of State John Kerry] operates with a ‘Cold War’ stamp, offering not to punish those who carried out the government overthrow, but the Russian Federation,” it read.
“And while glossing over this, the USA and its allies have closed their eyes to the excesses of the radical fighters on Maidan, their bullying of political opponents and ordinary citizens, as well as their anti-Semitism and militant Russophobia.”
Moscow further accused European powers of standing idly by while the “newly born Kiev regime” trampled on the EU mediated agreement of February 21, in which Yanukovich reached a deal with the opposition to settle the crisis. The ministry noted the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland had signed off on the document which was thrown out the window when opposition forces seized power the next day. In the process, the West has effectively allied itself with neo-Nazis who are smashing Orthodox churches and synagogues while “declaring war on the Russian language.”
On Sunday, Kerry threatened to isolate Russia economically and politically for deploying troops in the Crimea to protect the majority Russian speaking population, which Moscow says is under threat.
Meanwhile, on Monday Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich warned that suspending preparations for the upcoming Group of 8 summit in Sochi would not only damage the member states, but the entire international community.