From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the United States is trying to exploit the situation in Ukraine in order to "put Russia in its place."
Lavrov made the comments during a lecture in Moscow on October 20, adding that cooler relations between Moscow and Washington will last for a considerable time.
He said Washington is trying to divide Russia from Europe and that U.S. policies are causing "certain negative effects" on European Union member states.
Lavrov emphasized that Washington must realize "there is no alternative to the further strengthening of the tendency towards polycentricity." He said signs of these tendency can be seen in the work of the G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the BRICS group (which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
In the wide-ranging talk, Lavrov also said there is no need for a NATO presence in the Arctic region and that the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniester would have the right to declare independence if Moldova "loses its sovereignty" or "changes its military-political status."
Resistance is futile:
From our News Desk:
Amnesty International says both pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces may be guilty of "execution-style and other deliberate" killings in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
"There is no doubt that summary killings and atrocities are being committed by both pro-Russian separatists and pro-Kyiv forces in eastern Ukraine, but [it] is difficult to get an accurate sense of the scale of these abuses," the rights group said in an October 20 report.
An investigation by the group revealed "isolated incidents attributable to both sides," Amnesty said.
The group cast doubts on claims by the separatists and the Russian government last month of "mass graves" in eastern Ukraine, saying it found evidence of extrajudicial killings by Kyiv-backed forces of four men buried in two graves but not the hundreds of bodies claimed by Russian officials and media.
VIDEO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said relations between Russia and the United States were at "rock bottom" and would remain so for some time. In a lecture on October 20, Lavrov said things would only improve when 'unilateral sanctions' were abandoned. The U.S. and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia, alleging it supports separatists in eastern Ukraine with troops and weaponry. Russia denies the claims. (Video by Reuters)
