WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday that it is not in Russia's interest for Ukraine to be gripped by violence, and rejected the notion that the situation in Ukraine represented a Cold War style "tug of war" between the United States and Russia.
"It is in Russia's interest that Ukraine not be engulfed in violence - Kiev or other places - and that it return to stability, and that progress be made towards a future in Ukraine that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people," White House spokesman Jay Carney told a news briefing.
"So it's very important to view this not as a tug of war between East and West or the United States and Russia," Carney added on the same day that Ukrainian opposition leaders signed an EU-mediated peace deal with President Viktor Yanukovich aiming to resolve a violent political crisis. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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