The Russian president accused the United States on Wednesday of being responsible for the "ukrainian crisis" for supporting the 2014 revolution, during the credentialing ceremony for the new US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy.
"Relations between the Russian Federation and the United States, on which the security and stability of the world depend, are unfortunately in deep crisis"Vladimir Putin also said at the ceremony, which took place in the Kremlin and was broadcast on Russian television.
"I can’t help but say that US support (…) for the 2014 coup in kyiv has ultimately led to the current Ukrainian crisis"declared the Russian president, alluding to the 2014 revolution that brought down the Ukrainian government at the time, which was close to Moscow.
"We have always supported the establishment of Russian-American relations exclusively founded on the principles of equality, respect for each other’s sovereignty and interests, and non-interference in internal affairs. We will be guided by this in the future"Putin added.
Soon after, he also lectured the European Union, accepting the credentials of the bloc’s new ambassador, Roland Galhargue.
"The European Union began the geopolitical confrontation with Russia"said Putin, noting that relations with the EU -which firmly supports Ukraine- "have deteriorated significantly in recent years".
These statements are a sample of the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Western countries as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. Their relations have deteriorated to levels not seen since the Cold War.
The presentation of the credentials of the new US ambassador came a week after an American journalist, Evan Gershkovich, was arrested in Russia on charges of "espionage" -something the White House rejects-.
Lynne Tracy, a Russian-speaking diplomat who has already worked in Russia and other former Soviet republics, was appointed to the sensitive post by President Joe Biden in September.
Tracy replaces John Sullivan, appointed by former President Donald Trump and who left the post last summer for family reasons.
The new ambassador inherits some particularly thorny dossiers, including the conflict in Ukraine and the situation of Americans detained in Russia.
