Ukraine has received a very clear message that the EU and the United States will do everything to support the Ukrainian people and preserve Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said at the Atlantic Council in Washington as part of his working visit to the United States on Wednesday.
“The Western world is determined to preserve the integrity and
independence of Ukraine,” the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers
quoted Yatseniuk as saying.
He said that it was very important that the European Union and the United States “speak with one voice.”
“We have got a very clear statement of the EU and the U.S. saying
that they will do whatever they can to support the Ukrainian people and
actually to protect Ukraine,” Yatseniuk said
“I am satisfied with the way the U.S. and the EU are helping us handle the crisis,” he added.
He also noted that Ukraine had already received a financial aid package from Western partners.
“It is on the table. We have to accomplish the IMF deal, however, we
have already obtained $1 billion in guarantees for stabilization of the
Ukrainian economy,” Yatseniuk said.
“What is going on was absolutely unexpected for me and unacceptable
for the world. With no reason, our partner in the past, but I still
believe this country would become our partner in the future, started an
incursion into the Ukrainian territory, started to invade an independent
and sovereign country,” Yatseniuk said.
He said he was confident that this military crisis could be resolved through diplomatic and political tools.
“As time is going, the clock is ticking, the chances are not as big,
as for example they were last week. But these options, these tools are
still on the table,” he said.
Yatseniuk said that the first scenario of Russian President Vladimir Putin was “to conquer Crimea in this or that way.”
“But he can go further. Russia has another scenario as well – how to
conquer the whole Ukraine, including the Ukrainian capital. It depends
on his [Putin’s] personal goals,” he said.
“Several years ago Putin said the largest catastrophe of the previous
century was collapse of the Soviet Union. I would say the largest
catastrophe of this century would be restoring the Soviet Union,”
Yatseniuk said.
