Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko is confident that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not have to use the Federation Council's permission to send troops to Ukraine for protecting the civilian population.
“I am positive that will not be necessary. The Geneva meeting mapped
out ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis (…) I very much hope that
this permission [of the Federation Council to send troops to Ukraine]
will not be used,” Matviyenko told a press conference in St. Petersburg
on Friday.
The Ukrainian crisis should be resolved exclusively in the dialogue
between the authorities and society and the search for compromises for
the sake of peace and stability in the country, she stressed.
Matviyenko reminded [listeners] that the Federation Council gave the
Russian president permission to send troops to Ukraine proceeding from
the situation Ukraine found itself in at that moment.
“The events were unpredictable and we believed it was possible to
provide the president with every instrument he could use to avert a
threat to the security of the civilian population,” Matviyenko said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he hoped he would
not have to use the right to send army units to Ukraine he has been
given by the parliament.
“Let me remind you that the Federation Council of Russia has granted
the president the right to use the Armed Forces in Ukraine. I very much
hope I will not have to use this right and we will manage to resolve all
pressing, not to say, critical contemporary problems of Ukraine with
political and diplomatic means,” Putin said in a Q&A session.
He thinks Russia should do its utmost to help people in eastern Ukraine stand up for their rights.
“We must do everything to help these people defend their rights and
make an independent decision about the future. This is what we will be
struggling for,” the Russian president said.
