Russia declares Ukraine agreement a failure

Russia on Saturday declared the failure of the agreement signed less than 24 hours earlier by the conflict parties in Ukraine to end the country's political crisis and called on Germany, Poland and France to get the Ukrainian opposition to implement the deal.

In calls with the foreign ministers of Germany, Poland and France, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov expressed the "gravest concern" at the failure of the agreement, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The opposition "not only failed to fulfil any of its obligations, but puts forward new demands, following the lead of armed extremists and thugs whose actions pose a direct threat to the sovereignty and constitutional order in Ukraine," the statement said.

According to the statement, Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his French colleague Laurent Fabius and Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski recognised the opposition's failure to stick to its commitments and promised urgent steps to ensure the implementation of the deal.

"It is time to stop misleading the world public and pretend that today's Maidan represents the interests of the Ukrainian people," the Russian foreign ministry said.

Meanwhile, other Russian politicians and state television stoked fears of separatism and inter-regional tensions in Ukraine.

Alexei Pushkov, head of the foreign relations committee in the Duma, Russia's parliament, said from the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv that the South-eastern regions of the country were a "bastion of stability". Speaking from a congress of politicians from the more Russia-friendly regions in the South and East of Ukraine, Mr Pushkov said: "The regional leaders who were here spoke about how they want to live in a united Ukraine, but not in a Ukraine where the conditions and policies will be dictated by extremist forces who recognise nothing but the language of violence and dictatorship."

"Their voice needs to be heard in Kiev, otherwise there will be a new phase of acute political conflict."

Russian state news channel Rossiya 24 broadcast an interview with Russian nationalist conservative ideologue Alexander Dugin, who claimed civil war in Ukraine had already begun and denounced the Ukrainian opposition as "Nazist dictators".

"Revolution requires revolutionary means," Mr Dugin said. "I suggest that it is necessary that Russia, in an organised way, help Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Asked by the host what 'in an organised way' meant, he said "with tanks".

"We need to militarily strengthen the East and Crimea, not in our own interest but in the interest of Ukraine," said Mr Dugin.

While this does not represent the government, and independent analysts believe that president Vladimir Putin's priority is to prevent a break-up of the neighbouring country, the firebrand's views are shared by many also in the Russian government.

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