События и комментарии экспертов фонда
|
| 15 мая, 2014 | | | Читать на сайте издания |
Konstantin Kostin, head of the Civil Society Development Foundation talks discusses the situation in Ukraine on Russian TV’s First Channel.
How would you describe the current state of affairs in south-east Ukraine?
This is an ongoing crisis because, on the one hand a referendum was held and so we know what the people in these regions actually want, but on the other hand we have the stubborn refusal of the authorities in Kiev to engage in a political dialogue.
And in your opinion, who should the authorities in Kiev be talking to in order to come to some agreement?
At the moment there are not only defence forces but also political bodies in Donbass: and in the Lugansk region and Donetsk it is these political bodies who have conducted a referendum and are now preparing to declare independence and then decide in what way to build relations between these regions and the Ukrainian government. As a federation or a confederation? Together or not together? It is all part of a political dialogue. But unfortunately, Kiev stubbornly refuses to engage in this dialogue, calling these people separatists and calling them offensive names as part of their propaganda. But this is a road to nowhere.
Everyone knows what the people in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions actually want; but what are the legal consequences of the referendum?
There is a lot of talk about the referendum at the moment: that it is legitimate, not legitimate... in fact if one looks at international documents then it is clear that the referendum does not in fact need to be recognized as legitimate. If it is the will of the people then it should be accepted by everyone and implemented politically.
The leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have announced that the Ukrainian Presidential elections scheduled for 25th May will not take place in Donbass.
If voting does not take place in two regions then the President is not entirely legitimate because the source of power is the people.
Some sociologists suggest that a certain percentage of the people in the south-east of Ukraine will go to the polls?
According to sociologists about 30% of the population in the south-east say that they are going to take part in elections and already have some idea which candidate they would vote for, but the leader is going to be the same throughout the whole of Ukraine and the relationship between the candidates for the Presidential race is approximately the same too. The only question is, how is it going to be organized at a practical level? The south-west is a big region. It includes the town of Kharkov, Kherson and Nikolaev...but one cannot accept that elections have taken place if there is no polling in two areas. And at the present time there will definitely be no vote in these two areas.
'Do you think that Western and American diplomats can stop the disintegration.. the destruction of Ukraine?'
I have always said that Ukraine is not in a position to solve the situation internally, so, unfortunately in order to see some de-escalation and normalization of the situation we have to look outside of the Ukraine. This could for example be the Geneva Convention. Or Russia, the European Union or the USA.
Konstantin, can you comment please on the latest scandal with regard to UN marked helicopters which were seen near Kramatorsk?
I see this as an attempt to provoke unrest and give the operation legitimacy. In other words, if peacemakers are seen to be taking part in the operation and people see the UN marked helicopters it means that they will then think there are blue helmets here – that there is support from the international community, that a mandate has been issued...
And they are mistaken?
Yes, the UN has said this is unacceptable. This is without a doubt a scenario designed to provoke unrest which is absolutely typical of the politics of the so called authorities in Ukraine today.
Konstantin, what exactly is the U.S. interest in the Ukraine? Why are they so actively involved in the politics of this country?
As we know from the media, the U.S. has many interests and one subject in particular is of particular interest to the press: the son of the American vice-president (Hunter Biden) unexpectedly joined the board of directors of a large Ukrainian company which is engaged in mining oil and gas in the Ukraine. This is on the whole a rather strange story. It will be interesting to see if there will be a congressional investigation about this, as there was in the case of Halle Burton which was a similar situation - but in Iraq not Ukraine. The Speaker of the State Department says ‘He is a completely private citizen!’ Well, I’m sorry, but what is a private citizen? He is a close relative, albeit an adult (to the vice president) and should not have been given this appointment at this time. I believe it is a very unfortunate move. But the U.S.A. has different interests at heart: this is without a doubt an attempt to maintain its influence in Europe and expand its military presence.
