Russia demands Ukraine protest leaders stop bloodshed - Foreign Ministry spokesman (Part 2)

MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - Russia demands that the Ukrainian protest leaders put an end to the bloodshed and continue a search for peaceful ways to settle the crisis.

"We reaffirm our demand that the Maidan leaders immediately stop the bloodshed and continue looking for peaceful solutions to the crisis without threats and ultimatums," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

The situation in Kyiv can and should be settled within the framework of the incumbent Ukrainian authorities' constitutional prerogatives, he said.

The fact that extremists have been using firearms increasingly more often indicates "an open attempt at a coup and forcible seizure of power," he said.

"We strongly condemn the radicals' and extremists' actions and believe they bear primary responsibility for violence and bloody lawlessness. Serious responsibility also rests with the opposition activists who have proven to be unable to fulfill the agreements reached with the authorities," he said.

"The situation can and should be settled within the framework of the incumbent Ukrainian authorities' constitutional prerogatives," Lukashevich said.

"The continued attempts of meddlesome mediation from the outside, the threats of sanctions and other methods to affect the situation are inappropriate and can't do any good but can only worsen the confrontation," he said.

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