MOSCOW
The United States wants to subdue Moscow, but it will never succeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.
The president's comments came at a forum organized by the pro-Kremlin All Russia People's Front, where a participant said the U.S. was trying to humiliate Russia.
"They are not trying to humiliate us. They want to subdue us, and solve their problems at our expense," Putin said.
"No one in history has ever managed to achieve this, and no one ever will," he added.
Putin also alleged the U.S. was influencing its allies, which he called its satellite states, the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
As a result, Putin said, many U.S .allies had been forced to neglect their own interests in an attempt to defend somebody else for obscure reasons and with very hazy prospects, the agency said.
Putin's comments come at a time of strained relations between Russia and the U.S., the latter -- along with the West-- accuse Moscow of siding with and arming the separatists in Ukraine.
EU’s foreign policy chief Monday called on Russia to withdraw its troops, weapons and equipment under its control from Ukraine.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, also asked Russia to ensure the pro-Russian separatist rebels obey the Sept. 5 cease-fire agreement with the Ukrainian government signed in Belarus' capital Minsk.
Previously, on Oct. 25, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg had warned Russia against recognizing the rebel elections held in defiance of the Ukrainian government.
"These elections violate Ukrainian laws and run counter to the Minsk agreements co-signed among others by the two self-proclaimed ‘republics’ and by the Russian Federation," he said.
However, Russia did recognize the vote on Nov.2, and separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko was sworn in as head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
Both the EU and NATO denounced the rebel poll in the eastern part of the country, saying it undermined efforts to resolve the conflict.
www.aa.com.tr/en
