Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has asked the leaders of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, to initiate negotiations in Ukraine where confrontations between the opposition and the police have been ongoing for several days.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich, Mr. Obama, I am asking you to find an
opportunity and take a resolute step towards helping Ukraine return to
the path of peaceful development. I place my confidence in you,” says
Gorbachev’s appeal to Putin and Obama obtained by Interfax.
“I am confident it is in your power to achieve this goal. The warring
sides should sit down at the negotiating table,” Gorbachev said.
“A fight of Ukrainians against Ukrainians cannot be allowed. This is
completely absurd. Yet the situation seems to have developed so that a
catastrophe may happen without our assistance, without support from
authoritative representatives of our two states,” Gorbachev said.
“Mutual accusations are being made. Culprits of the exacerbated
situation in Ukraine are being searched for in Russia, the West,
Ukrainian authorities and the ranks of the Ukrainian opposition. This
only escalates the tensions. It is not the time to make inquiries. Most
importantly, the dangerous escalation must be stopped,” Gorbachev said.
The Kyiv events are threatening not only Ukraine and its neighbors but also Europe and the entire world, he said.
“Same as many people in Russia, I take everything that is happening
in Ukraine very close to heart. I simply cannot imagine it may come to a
split of the nation, a split of society. These are understandable
concerns,” the former Soviet leader said.
“Russia and Ukraine have been very close for centuries. But this is
not just the historical bonds. There are close family relations between
people. My mother was Ukrainian and my father was Russian. My late wife
Raisa Maximovna was Ukrainian. There are thousands of such examples. We
may speak about a blood relation between our citizens, our peoples, our
countries,” Gorbachev said.
