Russian lawmaker says EU doesn't care about democracy

A Russian legislator said a recently disclosed telephone call between Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton proves the EU's claim of caring about democracy in Ukraine is "fake".

"The intercepted telephone conversation clearly indicates that pro-opposition snipers opened fire at the crowd on the Maidan (Independence Square in Kiev), including protesters," Alexei Pushkov, foreign affairs committee chairman of the State Duma, the parliament's lower house, told the Interfax News Agency in an interview published on Thursday.

He said EU leaders were aware of the fact but kept silent, making their claims of supporting democracy and human rights in Ukraine "a game of make-believe".

Paet told Ashton that the new authorities in Ukraine do not want to investigate the February events on Maidan.

After the transcript was made public on the Internet, Paet said he was simply delivering the opinion of some unidentified Ukrainian experts.

Pushkov said: "All (the EU's) statements about these high principles are, in fact, a fake. Their actual goal is to put Ukraine within the sphere of influence of the Euro-Atlantic alliance at any cost, even at the cost of shooting people."

Xinhua