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The Kremlin suspects NATO is
using the crisis in Ukraine to further its own agenda in the
region, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministery said
Friday.
The comments came during a NATO summit that focused on the
crisis in Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels have been fighting
the government.
At the same time, a plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine was
reached.
Authorities in Russia fear that NATO may be taking
advantage of the situation to implement a longstanding plan for
a greater presence in the region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko is prepared
to offer "extraordinary" concessions on decentralizing some
government powers as well as guaranteeing language and cultural
protections to pro-Russian rebels, Russian news agencies said
Friday.
Poroshenko said that as early as Saturday, political
authority could be decentralized in the disputed areas of
Donetsk and Lugansk along with promises of freedom "to use any
language supported by cultural traditions," he reportedly said.
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