Steinmeier said both sides were concerned that the recent relative calm in the Ukrainian protests could give way to an escalation of unrest and wanted to find a political solution. “That is obvious and no nice words can change that.” But dragging Ukraine to one side, telling it that it needs to choose ‘either or’, either with the EU or with Russia, (the European Union) is in fact trying to create such a sphere of influence,” the Russian minister said. “I fully agree with Frank-Walter that there should be no spheres of influence. It was up to the conflicting parties in Kiev to find a solution, he said. Steinmeier told journalists that “no one should have an interest in lighting the fuse on the powder keg” and Ukraine must not become a “geopolitical chess game”. Russia and the EU have exchanged recriminations since Kiev’s decision in November to shelve plans for a trade agreement with Brussels and to seek closer links with Russia instead, a move that sparked mass unrest in Ukraine claiming at least six lives. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetovįoreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sharpened Russian allegations of Western interference in its neighbor’s turbulent affairs at a joint news conference after talks with his visiting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a news conference after a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow, February 14, 2014.
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