Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has said that the escalation of the political situation in the country affects and reduces the effectiveness of Ukraine's talks with the European Union and Russia.
“Unfortunately, such a situation to some extent influences the
effectiveness of our actions. We’re currently holding very important
negotiations with the EU and Russia, and their goals are known. As for
the EU, we want to create the conditions necessary for the signing of an
Association Agreement. As for Russia, we stated two main goals – to
resume trade with Russia in full and to begin talks to change the price
of Russian gas for Ukraine,” he said in an exclusive interview with
Interfax-Ukraine.
He said that the actions of the opposition, which uses mass protests
in its own interests, “significantly weaken the actions of Ukraine and
put our negotiating missions in a disadvantageous position.”
“Of course, this also influences the effectiveness of work of our
negotiators, and the Foreign Ministry feels this every day,” he said.
He added that the Ukrainian president and the government had given
clear instructions to law enforcement agencies not to use force against
protesters and “these mass protests are being held as democratically as
possible, given the role of the government and the protesters.”
“And, perhaps, for the first time law enforcement agencies, which are
virtually disarmed and cannot use special means, are actually opposing
to a great number of people. This is a unique situation, because around
the world law enforcement authorities should be ready to observe the
statute and the law at any moment,” he said.
