Former president Viktor Yanukovych made a rare public appearance on Russian media on Monday, accusing the European Union of “arrogance” in talks with Kyiv held before he was ousted from power.
Yanukovych, an ally of Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin, fled to Russia in 2014 after cracking down on pro-EU protests in Ukraine sparked by his decision to ditch an association agreement with the bloc.
In a rare interview to Russian state news agencies published Monday, he accused the European Union of behaving “inappropriately” during the integration talks.
“They did not show understanding of the complexity of the economic situation in Ukraine. I will say it bluntly – they were arrogant,” Yanukovych said in a video published by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
He also said Ukraine joining NATO would be “a direct path to civil war”.
“I have always been a categorical and convinced opponent of Ukraine’s accession to NATO,” Yanukovych said.
The state agencies did not say when or where the interview was recorded.
Independent Russian media said it was Yanukovych’s first public appearance since Russia launched its Ukraine offensive in February 2022.
Security forces under Yanukovych’s control killed dozens of protesters who had camped out in central Kyiv demanding pro-EU reforms in what become known as Ukraine’s Maidan revolution in the winter of 2013-2014.
He was impeached by parliament over the bloodshed.
A Ukrainian court in 2019 found Yanukovych guilty of treason for trying to crush the protests. It sentenced him to 13 years in absentia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2023 stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship.