Deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has said he was forced from power by pro-Fascist forces and blamed the Ukraine’s crisis on the West for “indulging” protesters seeking his ouster.
Yanukovich told reporters on Friday that he would not give up the fight for his country’s future, denouncing the new authorities in Ukraine as “young neo-fascists”.
“Nobody overthrew me, I was forced to leave Ukraine because of imminent threat to my life and family,” he said in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don in his first public appearance for almost a week, adding that he would return to Ukraine once he received international safety guarantees.
Yanukovich said that Ukraine’s current parliament was illegitimate, voting under pressure from EuroMaidan “militants”.
“The laws adopted at the parliament are not valid as I did not sign them,” he said, adding that the presidential poll scheduled for May was also “illegal” and he would take part in it.
“Power was taken by nationalists, fascists youngsters who are the absolute minority of Ukraine,” he said in the news conference.
He blamed the “irresponsible policies” of the West for the crisis in the country and said “terror and chaos” were now prevailing in the country.
“This is the result of the irresponsible policies of the West, which was supporting the Maidan,” Yanukovich said, referring to the square in Kiev where anti-government demonstrations have taken place over the past three months.
He said lawlessness and chaos had followed an agreement he signed with his opponents last Friday, which was brokered by the European Union and was intended to end three months of crisis.
He added that he had been “compelled to leave” Ukraine after he received threats to his security and apologised “to the Ukrainian people” for not having had more strength to endure the situation.
Yanukovich said that he has not met Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, after leaving Ukraine, adding that they spoke on the phone and agreed to meet soon.
“Knowing the character of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I am surprised that he is until now so restrained and silent [on the Ukrainian crisis],” he also said.
Only hours after Yanukovich’s remarks, Putin called for a rapid return to normality in Ukraine and warned against any further escalation of unrest, in telephone calls with key EU leaders, the Kremlin said.
Putin emphasised “the extreme importance of not allowing a further escalation of violence and the necessity of a rapid normalisation of the situation,” the Kremlin said after Putin had separate phone conversations with British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Herman van Rompuy, the president of the European Council.
No comments:
Post a Comment