Headlines
Unipolar world unacceptable to Russia: Putin
Moscow, Feb 8
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that his country would never accept a unipolar world.
Noting
that there was one "undisputed" unipolar leadership trying to control
the current world and force others to obey, Putin said Russia would
never accept such attempts.
At the congress of Russia's
Federation of Independent Trade Unions, Putin stressed that Russia did
not intend to be at war with anyone and was always willing to cooperate.
He
reiterated that sanctions against Russia would never have the desired
effect, although they do have a negative impact on the country's
economy.
"We must realise this, and make all possible efforts to
strengthen our sovereignty, including in the economic sphere," Putin
said in a statement posted online, pledging Russia's firm stance against
external pressure which was imposed on the country over Ukraine crisis,
Xinhua reported.
US Vice President Joe Biden Saturday told the
51st Munich Security Conference that Washington would continue to
provide Ukraine with security assistance.
Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was present at the conference, reiterated
that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military build-up near
the Russian borders was fuelling up confrontation and undermining
European security.
"Lavrov stressed that NATO support of Kiev's
military action in southern Ukraine hampers attempts to find a peaceful
resolution of the deep domestic crisis in Ukraine," said an online
statement released by the ministry.
NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg responded by saying that all the measures taken by NATO were
defensive and promised to maintain an open dialogue channel with
Moscow.
Defence ministers of the NATO decided Thursday to
strengthen the alliance's presence in eastern Europe and the Baltic
region and expand the size of its rapid reaction force to 30,000.