Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius has said that if talks between the authorities and protesters fail, Ukraine could plunge into chaos.
“We are talking with representatives of the authorities and the
opposition. We believe that bloodshed and violent actions must be
stopped, as otherwise the country could plunge into chaos,” he said at a
press conference in Vilnius on Monday.
He said that Lithuania had always supported dialog with both the
Ukrainian authorities and the opposition, which has not yet accepted the
proposal of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on the distribution
of government posts.
Linkevicius said that the government’s delaying the beginning of talks with the opposition had worsened the situation.
“We would like the negotiations to be held, and the chance for them,
in our opinion, is not yet gone. We have to regret that the government,
the authorities waited too long to start a genuine negotiating process,
and it also contributed to the aggravation of the situation,” he said.
