Interfax: Medvedev believes unitary state in Ukraine has no future but choice is up to Ukrainians

MOSCOW. Oct 15 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that a unitary state in Ukraine has no future but says a decision must come from the Ukrainians themselves.

“Ukraine is an independent country and Ukrainians should decide for themselves where to live,” he said in an interview with the channel CNBC, answering a question about the Kremlin’s expectations from the elections in Ukraine.

The anchor asked whether, in the premier’s opinion, the elections might lead to federalism in Ukraine that would then allow the Russian minorities to feel protected and, as a result, help normalize Russia-West relations and lift the sanctions.

“If they want to live in a unitary state, go right ahead. However, it seems to me that they have reached an impasse, because part of Ukraine has said they cannot live like that,” Medvedev said.

“If they agree on a federation, that could facilitate Ukraine’s development. But this decision must come from within Ukraine – by the Ukrainian authorities and those people in the east of the country who have different views. This is the only possibility,” he opined.

“Ukraine’s problem is that its society is deeply divided and people have different values,” he added.

“In addition, past Ukrainian leaders unfortunately pursued an extremely ineffective economic policy – extremely ineffective. Ukraine is bankrupt. It is on the verge of financial collapse. It does not service its debts or pay for gas or other supplies. We would very much like to see Ukraine become a normal, modern and solvent country with which we’ll develop relations,” Medvedev said.