US-Russia row on Ukraine reminder of Cold War: Analyst

The ongoing war of words between the United States and Russia over Ukraine is reminiscent of the Cold War that ended in 1991, says a political analyst.

“It is a proxy war between the United States and Russia that echoes the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union of several generations past,” William Beeman said in an interview with Press TV on Friday.

He said Washington feels unhappy to “see Ukraine moving away from the European Union and back into the Russia’s sphere.”

Beeman said the US-Russia mutual trust diminished a long time ago, adding, “Unfortunately the feelings that have evolved about this Cold War mentality have not stopped.”

Beeman also described the March overthrow of government in Ukraine as an example of US-backed “color revolutions or velvet revolutions” that have already happened in countries around Russia.

“So the Russians felt that Ukraine had been essentially annexed by Europe at the instigation of the United States,” he added.

Beeman said Washington and Moscow are locked in “a very difficult diplomatic situation” as tensions rise in Ukraine.

In the past few weeks, protesters have taken control of government buildings in more than ten cities in the eastern parts of Ukraine. They have been demanding local referendums on independence.

Protests gained momentum in the eastern parts of Ukraine after Crimea declared independence from the former Soviet state and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which almost 97 percent of voters said yes to joining Russia.