The Ukrainian leadership does everything to keep public and media attention focused around the Crimean issue as evidenced by Kiev's claims on alleged deployment of nuclear weapons on the peninsula, Konstantin Kosachev, the Russian upper house's International Affairs Committee chair, told Sputnik.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2018) The Ukrainian leadership does everything to keep public and media attention focused around the Crimean issue as evidenced by Kiev's claims on alleged deployment of nuclear weapons on the peninsula, Konstantin Kosachev, the Russian upper house's International Affairs Committee chair, told Sputnik.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that Russia has allegedly deployed nuclear weapons in Crimea or at least constructed the infrastructure for it.
"Kiev by all means needs to maintain 'information fire' around the Russian and especially the Crimean theme, and at the same time throw a dubious 'texture' for another anti-Russian draft resolution on Crimea of the UN General Assembly," Kosachev said, referring to Klimkin's latest claims.
The senator noted that Western media picks up any, "even most absurd" news about Russia and then turns the reports from "highly likely" into facts.
Russian lower house lawmakers Viktor Vodolatsky and Ruslan Balbek also slammed Ukraine's claims in comments to Sputnik, pointing out that there is no infrastructure for the deployment of nuclear weapons on the peninsula.
"We will continue to hear from the Ukrainian leadership such inadequate, unprofessional statements. Klimkin's statement is void. Russia by definition cannot deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea, since there is no infrastructure for this on the peninsula, and in Russia there are other regions where the appropriate armament is located," Vodolatsky said.
Balbek underlined that the Ukrainian leadership "ignorantly" thinks that ballistic missiles could be deployed on a fighter jet, a tank or a guard ship.
Ukrainian-Russian relations have been tense since 2014, with Ukraine accusing Russia of annexing the Crimean peninsula, that joined Russia in a referendum, and also of meddling in the conflict in the eastern region of Donbas. This has resulted in a a deterioration of Russian-Western ties as well.
