On the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin called him an illegitimate leader, interim Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk made a plea for national unity and renewed his demand that the Kremlin withdraw its military from Russian-occupied Crimea.
Yatensiuk expressed pride in the Ukrainian military for standing their ground and not giving in to the threats and provocations of the Russian military forces who control the peninsula. He also made a special plea to Crimea’s 2.2 million residents, more than half of whom are ethnic Russians.
“We call on our dear Crimeans: we are a united country, we should stay together. No one will break our unity,” Yatseniuk. “We call on Russia to stop aggression. Ukraine is ready for a new quality in its relationship with Russia, with Russia respecting Ukraine’s choice to sign a (trade and political) association agreement with the European Union.”
The Nov. 21 rejection of that EU deal by Viktor Yanukovych triggered massive protests that led to his overthrow as Ukraine’s president on Feb. 22. The nation’s former president is now living in exile in Russia, accepted by Putin “on humanitarian grounds.”
However, Putin in Moscow said that he did not recognize Ukraine’s two new leaders who came to power in the EuroMaidan Revolution — interim President Oleksandr Turchynov and Yatsenuik.
But Yatseniuk said that Ukraine’s government officials have started talks with their Russian counterparts over how to pay its debts
“I must remind that Ukraine has a debt of some $2 billion to Russia (for purchases of natural gas),” Yatseniuk said. “This is the debt made by a previous government and a previous president. Russia promised to give Ukraine a loan of $2 billion to pay the gas debt. We want to know if Russia plans to keep its promise.”
Putin signaled, however, that Ukraine would now have to pay the full market price for natural gas — rather than the discounted one offered to Yanukovych — and that Russia will not enter into any “fundamental agreements” with the interim government.
Yatseniuk called on Russia to “acknowledge its responsibility for destabilizing the safety of Europe.”
He also said that the government will take steps on March 5 to support its military forces who “didn’t violate their oath. They keep their allegiance to the Ukrainian people. At tomorrow’s government meeting we will take new decisions to support the military.”
Kyiv Post editor Olga Rudenko can be reached at [email protected]
