"Ukraine has practically slid into civil war"

"Ukraine has practically slid into civil war"

MOSCOW -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the opening of an international conference on global security that Ukraine has practically slid into civil war.

"After the president was forcibly removed from power with active involvement of external forces, the country has practically slid into civil war," the Russian minister said in Moscow on Friday, and warned that a focal point of tension has been artificially created in Europe.

The 3rd Moscow International Security Conference is attended Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić. Shoigu spoke about the impact of "color revolutions" on global security and pointed out that those were an important factor of destabilization in many regions of the world.

Among the negative examples, he mentioned "the war against Serbia."

"The phenomenon of colored revolutions becomes an important factor of destabilization in many regions of the world. Under the pretext of spreading democracy, someone else's values are imposed on people. Socio-economic and political problems of some countries are used to replace nationally oriented governments with regimes that are controlled from abroad," said the high ranking Russian official, adding that all this provides "the sponsors" unhindered access to the resources of those countries.

According Shoigu, "color revolutions" have increasingly been gaining the form of armed struggle, using all available means, including information war and special purpose forces.

"To increase the effect, military force can be used to the full extent. The war against Serbia, the strikes on Libya, the intervention in the conflict in Syria are a confirmation of that," he warned.