Putin accuses US of orchestrating 2014 ‘coup’ in Ukraine

In a column for a German magazine, the Russian president accuses Washington of manufacturing Yanukovich’s removal from office.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the 2014 popular uprising that saw former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich forced from office was the result of a “coup” orchestrated by the United States and supported by Washington’s European allies as he appealed for greater cooperation on the continent. Writing an op-ed in German newspaper Die Zeit to mark the 80th anniversary of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, Putin described on Tuesday the toppling of Yanukovich as an “anti-constitutional armed coup”. Moscow has long accused the US of fomenting turmoil in Ukraine, where tensions with neighbouring Russia have grown since Yanukovich, a pro-Kremlin leader, was removed.