Western powers cause a lot of problems by taking sides in conflicts instead of remaining neutral and fair, Yoweri Museveni has told RT

Western "imperialists" are responsible for the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said in an exclusive interview with RT.

The African state's leader accused the West of interfering in a conflict it has no part in and "misdirecting" Kiev instead of maintaining a neutral stance.

Uganda, which earlier this year became an official partner state of the BRICS group, has repeatedly said it would support efforts to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Kampala previously abstained from UN votes condemning Russia's military operation against the Kiev regime, noting that neutrality is essential to settle the conflict.

"I think Kiev is being misdirected by some of the external players... The imperialists, the ones who like to interfere in the affairs of other countries," Museveni said in the interview aired on Saturday.

"They make a lot of mistakes. They cause a lot of problems here in Africa, because they come and support the wrong positions. Like in the issue of Ukraine: we said, let's listen who is right and who is wrong. But these people didn't want to listen. They wanted to take sides," he argued.

Museveni noted that Russia and Ukraine were historically part of the same country, and compared the current conflict to a divorce.

"When you are married and you divorce, then you audit... they should have been asking, when the separation happened between Ukraine and Russia, was the auditing, was the divorce done properly?" he stated, accusing the West of failing to listen to Russia's arguments.

"We told the Western countries what we thought privately: they should be neutral and fair, balanced. But they are not balanced. They are always after this wrong position."

Museveni also spoke at length about his country's struggle against Western colonialism, Uganda's fruitful cooperation with the Soviet Union and now Russia, and his view of BRICS as a platform for forming mutually beneficial partnerships.

You can watch the full interview below.

(RT.com)