The Ukrainian situation has to be resolved through negotiations between the warring sides, Vladimir Lukin, special representative of the Russian president, said.
“History never ends. Even the most desperate situations, crises,
political and military conflicts have been solved; all it took was good
will. I advocate just one thing: the warring Ukrainian sides should
pause and say: stop, we are ready to negotiate common solutions as long
as it takes,” Lukin said in an interview published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta
on Monday.
He said that people in Slovyansk and Donetsk felt extremely negative about the forces that had clashed with them.
“I’d like to emphasize that what I am saying is not a political
statement but an impression of the person who has spoken to the
residents of these cities,” he said.
Many of these people are ready to carry on the defense, Lukin said.
“And all of them are saying this is a last stand,” he added. Lukin
described the evolving situation as a “minor civil war.”
As reported earlier, Lukin took part in the liberation of the OSCE
military inspectors seized by federalization supporters in Slovyansk.
