The Olympics must be over.

Russia PM Questions Legitimacy of New Ukraine Leadership

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s new leadership and said that Western countries which accept it are mistaken, in his first reaction to the transfer of power in Kiev.

Medvedev said that Russia was unable to accept the new authorities in Kiev as a partner for talks and could not negotiate with rebels “carrying Kalashnikovs”.

“Strictly speaking, there is no one for us to communicate with there today. The legitimacy of a whole number of organs of power that function there raises great doubts,” he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

“Some of our foreign, Western partners think otherwise… this is some kind of aberration of perception when people call legitimate what is essentially the result of an armed mutiny,” Medvedev said.

“If you consider people who swagger around Kiev in black balaclavas carrying Kalashnikovs to be a government, then we will find it difficult to work with such a government,” he added.