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2nd LD Writethru: Putin criticizes Europe for lack of independent foreign policy

Xinhua, December 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday criticized Europe for lack of independent foreign policy, saying it has partially transferred its sovereignty to the United States.

"The problem of Europe is that it does not have its own foreign policy ... It has transferred part of its sovereignty to NATO and the United States," Putin said in a documentary aired on the Rossiya 1 television channel.

The president urged what he called "European partners" to be more active in developing solutions to various issues, instead of simply "following orders from outside."

Meanwhile, Putin stressed that any international actions on any country should be taken with a consensus among permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, seemingly implying that the U.S.-led coalition has been launching airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria without the approval of the world body.

Commenting on the Ukraine crisis, which has caused relations between Moscow and the Western world being locked in a long winter, Putin noted that the West has no intention to protect the national interests of Ukraine, but with the aim to prevent the re-creation of the Soviet Union.

"Nobody believes us when we say Russia has no plan to re-create the Soviet Union," he said.

With regard to Kiev's recent decision to impose a moratorium on repayments of its multi-billion-U.S.-dollar debts to Russia, Putin stressed this would cause a loss of confidence from foreign partners in the country's solvency, which he said is a very bad signal.

"The country's GDP has been dramatically falling, as has the living standard of its people ... It is suffering from a complete de-industrialization," he said, adding that the West has been attempting to shift this "financial burden" to Russia without sharing any risks.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenuk announced on Friday that his country has imposed a moratorium on repayments of its 3-billion-U.S. dollar debts to Russia, which matures on Dec. 20.

Moscow has said it would file a lawsuit against Kiev with the international court if the payments were not made. Endi