The Kremlin says it did not receive an official letter from Yanukovych on the deployment of Russian troops
The presidential administration of the Russian Federation never received an official letter from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych with a request for Russian troops to enter Ukraine. TASS reports that this was stated by Dmitry Peskov, Press-Secretary for the President of Russia.
"No letter was officially received by the presidential administration; no such letter was registered in the administration," Peskov said.
At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on the words of Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN. "I do not know about this. I can only state the situation de facto and de jure, that is, what I have already said,” Interfax quotes Peskov as saying.
The newspaper Vedomosti recalls that testimony that Yanukovych, who was dismissed from office as President of Ukraine in March 2014, asked Putin to bring troops into Ukraine was already given to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office by former State Duma Deputy Denis Voronenkov.
In the spring of 2014, the existence of such a request was confirmed by Churkin at a meeting of the UN Security Council. He said that Putin received a request from President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to use Russian troops to restore law and protect the population of Ukraine. The Russian Permanent Representative to the UN read out this appeal, and showed the members of the Security Council his photocopy.
The transcript and videotape from this meeting are on the website of the UN Security Council.