By RFE/RL
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 16 that Western sanctions are aimed at restraining Russia, asserting that Moscow's role in the crisis and conflict in Ukraine are only a pretext for the punitive measures imposed by the European Union, United States, and other nations.
Putin made the remarks in annual question-and-answer session shown live on state television.
He said the purpose of the sanctions is Russia's "containment" and predicted they would not be lifted soon.
The United States and EU say the sanctions are aimed to change the behavior of Russia, which Kyiv and Western nations say illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014 and has sent troops and weapons to eastern Ukraine to support separatists in a war that has killed more than 6,000 people since April 2014.
Putin claimed that Russia is abiding by the terms of a cease-fire deal and that the sanctions have nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.
Putin said Russia should use the sanctions as a basis to for "new achievements" in the economy.
RFE/RL is live-blogging Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual marathon question-and-answer session with the Russian public. There is sure to be much talk of Ukraine. Check out our Putin live blog here.
Demonstrators Protest At Ukraine's Constitutional Court Over Lustration Law
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- Dozens of protesters demonstrated outside of Ukraine's Constitutional Court in Kyiv on April 16 to express support for a law aimed at sacking civil servants linked to corruption during the rule of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych's government.
Dozens of opponents of the lustration law also gathered near the court building on April 16 to protest what they called "illegal firing of officials."
The Constitutional Court is scheduled to start hearings on the lustration law later on April 16.
The lustration law was adopted by Ukrainian lawmakers in September.
About 1 million civil servants are subject to screening under the law.
Some officials in Ukraine already have been fired in accordance with law.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on April 15 that lawmakers must take part in the Constitutional Court's hearings because there is a "conflict of interests" in the situation.
That is because some members of the court also are subject to review themselves under the lustration law.
Ukraine's Supreme Court and 47 lawmakers referred the legislation to the Constructional Court, urging it to rule on whether the lustration law violates Ukraine' constitution.