MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to rule out sending troops into Ukraine, saying he reserves the right to use ‘all means’ to protect Russian speakers in the country. Speaking for the first time since Russian troops effectively took control of the Crimean peninsula, Putin said if ‘anarchy’ erupts in eastern Ukraine, Moscow would have no hesitation in responding.
During the news conference, Putin called the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych an ‘anti-constitutional coup and armed seizure of power’. He insisted that Yanukovych was still the official president but admitted there appears to be little political future for him in Ukraine, going as far as to say he believes he would have been killed without Russia’s ‘humanitarian’ assistance.
