Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has said that Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Semynozhenko hasn't clearly expressed his position regarding a so-called union of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus and he must again express his vision of priorities in state policy.
"This is indisputable – Ukraine is an independent sovereign state. And this is written in the main law of our state. There is another truth – Ukraine is actively integrating with the European Union… Volodymyr [Semynozhenko] understands and supports the strategic direction of the state. And the problem lies in the lack of clarity in the statement by Semynozhenko," the president’s press service cited Yanukovych as saying on Thursday.
The head of the state noted that the vice premier must "again clearly express his position regarding his attitude to the Constitution of Ukraine and priorities in state policy."
According to Yanukovych, the incident must be settled.
At the same time, the president noted that the democratic society in Ukraine permits different points of view to be openly expressed and discussed.
"We have freedom of speech. And we don’t dictate to the press which topics to discuss and which not to. This would be wrong. When high-ranking state officials participate in live discussions they must pay attention to every word, because they’re expressing the state’s position," the president said.
