MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin is warning that extremist groups being manipulated from abroad could try to destabilize Russia, a statement that comes amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.
While Putin didn’t name any specific country, he previously has accused the United States and its Western allies of fueling mass uprisings that toppled unpopular regimes in ex-Soviet nations, Africa and the Middle East.
Addressing Thursday’s meeting of his Security Council, Putin said extremist groups often have been used as “an instrument for geopolitics and re-distribution of spheres of influences.” He argued that the world’s color-coded revolutions resulted from foreign meddling.
Putin said those developments were “a lesson and a warning for us, and we must do everything necessary so that it will never happen in Russia.”
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less