You're reading: Yanukovych: All political battles should stop on June 22

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said he is confident that the memory of Ukrainians – the victims of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) – is the best way to perpetuate the development of a strong and independent state.

"Our people… won owing to their faith in justice, strength of mind, and their irresistible desire to defend freedom on their soil. The eternal truth was again confirmed in those hard times – people are strong when they are united. And we must learn this forever," the head of state said in an address to his compatriots and war veterans, his press service reported on Tuesday, on the eve of June 22 – the Day of Mourning and Memory of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War (the 70th anniversary of the start of the war).

Yanukovych said he was confident that "the development of a strong independent Ukraine will be the most outstanding monument to all victims of war."

"We should realize that this deed requires patience, unity and concord," he said.

Yanukovych said that one of the major government and public priorities should be a "constant concern for the liberators of the Ukrainian people, attention to the everyday needs of war veterans, the widows of the deceased and victims of Nazism, workers in the rear, and children of war."

"June 22 is a day of national mourning when political battles should stop, and the common memory of the tragic years of war should unite all of our compatriots," Yanukovych said.