Ukraine's defense minister says it is unlikely that Moscow would go to war with Ukraine like it did with Georgia because Ukraine is an important link in Europe's energy supply.
Yuri Yekhanurov says a conflict would “have an influence on not only Ukraine but the whole world,” noting that 80 percent of the natural gas exported to Europe passes throughUkraine.
Asked about the potential of a conflict with Russia, he said he didn’t “believe something like this might happen in thefuture.”
He was speaking through an interpreter Friday during a visit toDenmark.
Russia and Ukraine have a long-running dispute about the right of Russia’s Black Sea fleet to use the Ukrainian port ofSevastopol.
