People from Ukraine's southeast are protesting due to a long absence of dialog with the capital and Russia takes advantage of this, the presidential candidate, Yulia Tymoshenko, has said.
“After our talks, I can say that compromise is possible. May-hour talks show that there was no dialog at the highest political level with people who express their discontent, and Russia takes advantage of this,” Tymoshenko said on the Ukrainian television’s Shuster Live program late on Friday, April 18.
She said that she was able to meet with two groups. “The first complaint I heard was that a lot of time was lost, as well as complaints that for a whole month politicians and the authorities in Kyiv didn’t start negotiations with the people sitting today in the Donetsk regional administration.”
“We discussed all the issues related to the economic and social situation. Life is very hard for people now. This also needs to be understood. We also had a chance to consider ways to give local councils and regions more independence, and how to resolve all our cultural and language issues that are being raised today. I think dialogue has been initiated. This is very important,” Tymoshenko said.
Shuster Live host Savik Shuster confirmed that according to his information, Tymoshenko met with representatives of the Oplot organization and Donetsk People’s Republic in the Astoria Hotel in Donetsk.
