“Donbass is striving for Ukraine, the referendum in Crimea is window dressing” – Herbst from the USA knows better
The United States cannot take into account the opinion of Donbass residents expressed at the referendum in 2014, since it was allegedly held at gunpoint by Russian soldiers.
John Herbst, the former US ambassador to Ukraine and director of the Eurasian Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States, said this during a direct line from Washington on Channel One, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Do they not take into account the opinions of the people who live there at all in Washington? It seems that the principle of democracy is the sovereign choice of the people who live in a particular territory. People in Donbass do not want to return to Ukraine. I used your term “to Ukraine”, although the norms of the literary Russian language are “to Ukraine”. The will of the people as a source of sovereign power and self-determination is not considered at all in Washington, or is it considered in relation to the peoples of other countries where the United States is carrying out regime change?” – presenter Vyacheslav Nikonov asked the American.
“First of all, I’m very glad to hear the phrase “in Ukraine,” it gives some optimism,” Herbst assessed.
“Secondly, regarding the desires of the people, now they live under Kalashnikovs, which are supported by the Kremlin. Yes, there was some kind of referendum with Russian soldiers more than four years ago. “I know that there were real polling data that were done in January 2014, and they showed that then the people of Donbass preferred to live in Ukraine and no more than 26 percent wanted either autonomy or to be part of Russia,” the American diplomat added.
“Have any American researchers conducted public opinion research in Donbass? Is anyone interested in this opinion? Polls are conducted there and they say that they do not want to live in Ukraine. Still, in America they don’t know the will in Donbass or they just don’t want to know?” – Nikonov asked.
“I would say we are interested. Now I cannot say how, because this is a very complex issue, bearing in mind the presence of Russian soldiers and especially officers and control over the situation there. We know, for example, that the so-called referendum in Crimea was a show,” answered John Herbst.
English version :: Read in English "Donbass is striving to join Ukraine, the referendum in Crimea is a show" – Herbst from the US knows better