Putin warns of ‘deficit’ in global security
July 1, 2014, 8:34 pm

Putin says that the unraveling of global economic policies in a failed unipolar world has increased dissent and strife [PPIO]

Addressing a conference of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent representatives on Tuesday, Putin said he had hoped Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko would extend a weeklong ceasefire with pro-Russian secessionists in the east of the country.

Earlier Poroshenko said he would renew military operations to rid the country of “parasites”. Fighter jets and artillery have been striking at pro-Russian bases in eastern Ukraine since early Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, President Poroshenko has resolved to resume military action, and we failed – when I say ‘we’, I mean my colleagues in Europe and myself – we failed to convince him that the road to a secure, stable and inviolable peace cannot lie through war,” Putin said.

“We also failed to agree to make public the statement approved by the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine on the need to maintain peace and search for mutually acceptable solutions,” he added.

The Russian President went on to criticise the lack of negotiations following Poroshenko’s ceasefire announcement last week. Instead, an ultimatum for disarmament was given, he said.

Russia has also criticised NATO’s role in the Ukraine crisis.

“We could not allow our access to the Black Sea to be significantly limited,” he said.

He added that Russia’s military could not sit idly by and allow NATO forces access to Crimea and Sevastopol.

“However, even the ceasefire was not bad overall, though not enough to settle the situation on a long-term basis in a way that would be acceptable to all the people living in the country, including those in its southeast,” Putin said.

For his part, Poroshenko said that he had not seen enough “concrete steps [from the Russians] for de-escalating the situation, including strengthening controls on the border.”

Ukraine Parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov on Tuesday said that his country’s military had launched “the active phase of the antiterrorist operation [against] terrorists’ bases and strongholds” in reference to pro-Moscow rebels

Middle East, Asia crises

During his address to Russian Federation representatives, Putin also focused on the current turbulence in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific citing how global economic, financial and trade systems are becoming unbalanced, and moral and spiritual values are being washed out.

“There is hardly any doubt that the unipolar world order did not come to be,” he said.

“Peoples and countries are raising their voices in favour of self-determination and civilizational and cultural identity, which conflicts with the attempts by certain countries to maintain their domination in the military sphere, in politics, finance, the economy and in ideology.”

On Sunday, the Russian air force delivered 10 used Sukhoi-24 fighter jets at the Iraqi government’s request as it desperately tries to reverse the southward advance of fighters belonging to the Islamic Caliphate, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The BRICS POST with inputs from Agencies