Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba explained that Ukraine supports calls for the release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, since he is an enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but noted that we should not be fascinated by him from the point of view of the interests of the Ukrainian state.
“Therefore, we have taken a tough, principled position, because, firstly, it is wrong to beat people who protested in defense of their civil rights. And secondly, there is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Kuleba said in the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel on Jan. 24 evening.
According to him, Navalny is now the personification of protests. “In fact, the Russians did not take to the streets to defend Navalny but to defend themselves. But he is Putin’s enemy, so we support the freedom of Navalny and all the people who support this freedom.”
“We need to understand Russia. We should not also be fascinated by Alexei Navalny from the point of view of Ukraine’s interests. There should be no illusions here,” the minister stressed.
He also believes that Navalny will have to apologize for Russian aggression against Ukraine if he leads Russia “in the future as a result of democratic elections” or if he takes a political place in the system. “But, as I said, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Therefore, if Navalny is the enemy of Putin, then we support Navalny. Everything is very simple,” Kuleba summed up.
