Putin bezichtigt USA ein Labor-Ratten-Experiment mit Menschen in der Ukraine zu betreiben

Vladimir Putin: U.S. doing lab rat experiments

Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly criticized the U.S. Tuesday while defending the movement of Russian troops into Ukraine, likening U.S. involvement to lab experiments on rats.

“I think they sit there across the pond in the U.S., sometimes it seems … they feel like they’re in a lab and they’re running all sorts of experiments on the rats without understanding consequences of what they’re doing,” Putin told a group of reporters. “Why would they do that? Nobody can explain it.”

Putin said at a press conference Tuesday that Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych is still the president, “from a legal perspective,” according to an English translation of Putin’s comments on RT America. He added Ukraine’s parliament is “partially” legitimate but the country’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, is not legitimate.

“It’s always a mistake to breach the constitutional rules,” Putin said. “I do understand those people who still demand not some face lift changes. They are demanding drastic changes. Why? Because they are accustomed to the fact that … scoundrels are replaced by other scoundrels.”

He added that Russia does not want to “interfere,” but said all Ukrainian citizens, no matter where they live, “need to enjoy the equal right, in terms of participation, in shaping the future of the country.”

He suggested those “who consider themselves legitimate authorities, I would hurry to take all the necessary steps, because they don’t have a mandate to carry out Ukraine’s foreign policy, internal policies and especially deciding Ukraine’s future.”

Putin, critical of Western powers, warned against the introduction of sanctions, saying “it is those who are going to introduce those sanctions who should think about the consequences,” adding that the “damage will be mutual.”

(Also on POLITICO: Turmoil in Ukraine hits world markets)

“I explained our motives, and what are the motives of our counterparts? They have supported an anti-constitutional coup and an armed seizure of power,” Putin said. “They declared those people legitimate and they support them now.”

Putin also took a swipe at Secretary of State John Kerry when asked about possibly removing Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. following Kerry’s criticism.

“Of course the state secretary’s an important official, but this is not the top level official in the United States,” Putin said.

“We saw statements by various politicians, members of various political forces, this we would be an extreme measure. And if we have to do it, we’ll do that, but I would prefer not to do that,” he said.

(Also on POLITICO: Why Russia no longer fears the West)

Putin, who said both sides are equally interested in cooperation, added that “it is easy to destroy these instruments of cooperation, it would be very difficult to recover them, to restore them.”

Putin said Russia is “open to cooperation” with authorities in Kiev “who we don’t consider fully legitimate.”

The Russian president defended the incursion into Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, calling it “the right step” that he said was requested by Yanukovych.

He said following an “official request” from Ukraine’s president, “we reserve the right to use all of the means to defend these people.”

Arriving, in Ukraine’s capital Tuesday, Kerry pushed back against Putin’s comments regarding the current government in the country.

“We hope Russia will respect the election that you are going to have,” Kerry said in Kiev, according to the Associated Press.

Kerry, whose comments also come as the U.S. announced it will provide 1$ billion assistance package to Ukraine, praised the country’s armed forces.

“They have shown restraint, despite the invasion of the Ukrainian homeland and a Russian government that has chosen intimidation,” Kerry said of the Ukrainian soldiers.

Putin, who called the presence of their own troops a surprise military exercise, added that he ordered Russian troops to return to their bases.

He also said plans for the G-8 summit, which was to be held in Sochi in June, are still moving forward.

”We are preparing for the G-8, and we will be ready to receive our colleagues; if they don’t want to come, that’s up to them,” Putin said.

Putin also addressed the market and economic reaction to the situation in Ukraine saying, “of course internal affairs always — and politics — always have some effect on the markets, money,” but said he thought it was “temporary.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/vladimir-putin-ukraine-speech-104219.html#ixzz2v2GUHVOzhttp://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/vladimir-putin-ukraine-speech-104219.html?hp=l3