Crimean speaker: Residents of the South-East did not want to separate from Ukraine, they can make peace with Kiev
Kyiv, January 03 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Ryabov) – Speaker of the Crimean Parliament Vladimir Konstantinov assures that residents of the South-East did not want to separate from Ukraine, and there is still an opportunity to reconcile Donbass and Kyiv.
The politician said this in an interview with the magazine “World and Politics”.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator – Kyiv news on Facebook , Odnoklassniki , or VKontakte
“I know this region, it is different from Crimea, but remains a Russian-speaking region with its own distinct features. This region did not ask for its own state. People there were afraid of radical Ukrainian nationalism. If you want to come to an agreement with them, do everything to make this fear go away. Instead, everything was done to increase people's fear. Remember the burnings during the May holidays in Odessa...
Poroshenko had a historic chance to come there, stop the bloodshed and return everything to normal. He could withdraw the troops and hold a referendum there in accordance with the laws - without changing the status of Ukraine as a state. “If you want powers, we’ll give you powers. If you want your own army, we’ll give it to you. After all, today we have completely lost the territory,” - in this form there would have been an absolutely normal dialogue between Kiev and Novorossiya, they would have agreed. Kyiv would never come to an agreement with Crimea.
Now Kyiv needs to make peace, it’s clear that you can’t win. We must admit the mistakes of all parties. We need to forget about the shooting, take Russia as the referee and go make peace,” suggests Konstantinov.
Last summer, at the height of the fighting, Donbass militia leader Igor Strelkov said that the rebels were fighting for reunification with Russia.
“Most militias dream of reunification with Russia. And we always dreamed of it. They fly the Russian flag because they are Russian. Is it really so unobvious? - said Strelkov.
Subsequently, on the eve of the start of negotiations with Kiev, Strelkov was removed from the post of Minister of Defense of the DPR.
Crimean Speaker : Residents of the Southeast Didn't Want to Separate from Ukraine; They Can Make Peace with Kyiv