MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Western elites and the incumbent administration of Ukraine are responsible for inciting the Ukrainian conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The responsibility for inciting the Ukrainian conflict, the escalation and the growing casualties fully rests upon Western elites and, of course, the incumbent Kiev regime to which the Ukrainian people is actually alien," Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly.
"The incumbent Ukrainian regime is serving the interests of third countries, rather than national interests," he said.
"The West is using Ukraine as a ram against Russia and a testing range," Putin said.
Western countries do not care about human lives, they do not care who to use in the fight against Russia, Putin said.
"They do not care who to stake on in the fight against us. Most importantly, they must fight against our country, which means anyone could be used as long as they fulfill their will, serve as a weapon against Russia," he said.
The "anti-Russia" project is part of the Western policy towards Russia, which aims to create conflict zones near its borders, Putin said. The idea is to direct the aggression towards the East and to eliminate rivals, he said.