Russia condemns Ukraine protests as 'coup attempt'
Russian FM urges EU to encourage the Ukrainian opposition leaders to cooperate with the authorities.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia condemned the deadly unrest in neighbouring Ukraine as a coup attempt on Wednesday, with President Vladimir Putin blaming the opposition for the biggest escalation in three months of anti-government protests.
"In the president s opinion, all the responsibility for what is happening now in Ukraine lies specifically with extremists," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, cited by the RIA Novosti news agency.
"Their actions can be seen and are seen in Moscow exclusively as an attempted coup d etat," he said.
At least 26 people died in clashes between demonstrators and police that began in Kiev s main protest square on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a phone call to his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for the European Union to encourage the opposition to cooperate with the authorities.
Steinmeier is heading to Ukraine on Thursday with the French and Polish foreign ministers before emergency talks among EU ministers in Brussels.
Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin is also set to visit Kiev Thursday, Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin said, cited by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
Lavrov "called for partners in the European Union to use their close and daily contacts with the opposition to urge them to cooperate with the Ukrainian leadership", the Russian foreign ministry said on its website.
Lavrov said the opposition should respect the agreements it made with the Ukrainian government and distance itself from "radical forces who have unleashed bloody riots and essentially embarked on the path to a coup d etat".
His comments appeared to be a change of strategy since he had earlier on Wednesday accused Western powers of meddling in Ukrainian affairs.
- End the bloodshed -
In a statement released Wednesday the Russian foreign ministry called on the opposition to immediately end the violence.
"The Russian side demands that the leaders of the square end the bloodshed in their country," the ministry said.
Calling Ukraine a "brother" country, the ministry added: "We will use all our influence to restore peace and calm."
Kremlin spokesman Peskov said Putin and his embattled Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych had a "telephone conversation last night".
But he denied claims that Putin was pulling strings in the crisis and reiterated that Moscow would not interfere.
"Russia s president never has and does not give advice to his Ukrainian colleague about what to do, and how... and does not plan to give such advice in the future," the spokesman said.
Yanukovych in November scrapped a trade deal with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia, horrifying those Ukrainians who favour EU integration and prompting the first street protests.
In December, Yanukovych visited Moscow and secured a $15 billion bailout deal and a huge price cut for Russian gas.
