You're reading: Ex-president Kuchma urges authorities and opposition to resume dialogue

"It's within the power of the authorities and the opposition to prevent the civil conflict in Ukraine from growing into a civil war,"- said  second president of independent Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.

 “What we’re witnessing in Ukraine now looks like a nightmare. Being in charge of the country for more than a decade, having faced numerous protests, I could never imagined such a scenario not for a single moment, and even more – I wouldn’t have ever let it happen. Ukraine is rich in neither gas nor oil, yet public peace and national reconciliation have always been our main wealth,”- told Kuchma Interfax-Ukraine in a statement.

However, “if a few weeks ago we were the only Commonwealth of Independent States country where there was no bloodshed in civil conflicts, the last few days have shown that we’ve crossed that red line,” he said. “The farther the country goes beyond it, the harder it will be to go back”.

I’m addressing both authorities and opposition: Ukraine’s future depends solely on you. Whether the civil conflict grows into a civil war or not, whether the split that has divided different regions turns into an abyss that might break Ukraine forever, depends only on your awareness of these threats,” Kuchma said.

“Ukrainian forces representative are interested in conflicts. Stop it! I urge all sides to immediately resume the dialogue, and I’m ready to do my best for this,” he added.