MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The Kremlin is alarmed by reports on the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council's decision to impose sanctions on Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk, as well as some of his associates and family members, and believes reactionary trends in that country's political arena are increasing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"This is very alarming information on the whole," Peskov told journalists, when commenting on the sanctions imposed on Medvedchuk.
"It's alarming, because we see a reactionary trend gaining momentum in Ukraine," he said.
This reaction is affecting both Ukraine's political and social sectors, he said.
"We see repressive actions with regard to the media, with regard to Ukrainian citizens, and with regard to leading Ukrainian politicians," Peskov said.
"Surely, this inevitably causes concern and begs the question of who has chosen this reactionary trend and whether this trend might make the Ukrainian leadership start thinking again about using force to solve the problem of the southwestern part of the country," he said.
"As this reactionary trend gains momentum and starts dominating the Ukrainian political arena, the situation on the line of contact is increasingly more disturbing, which causes our concerns," he said.
"Amid these reactionary and repressive actions, the economic situation in Ukraine is worsening rapidly," he said.
"The indicators leave much to be desired, and the people have a lot of problems with dramatic and torrential growth in prices for housing and utilities. As we're talking about our neighbor, such socioeconomic situation, combined with manifestations of reactionary trends inside the country, are a cause for serious concern," he said.